ECB holds key rate steady at 0.05pc

FRANKFURT, Nov 06 (AFP): The European Central Bank held its key interest rates unchanged at its regular monthly policy meeting on Thursday.
As widely expected, the ECB said in a statement that it was holding its main "refinancing" rate steady at 0.05 per cent, and its two other rates -- the marginal lending and the deposit rates -- at 0.30 per cent and minus 0.20 per cent respectively.
ECB President Mario Draghi was scheduled to explain the reasoning behind the decisions at his monthly news conference.
But despite growing pressure for more action to ward off the spectre of deflation in the single currency area, Draghi is unlikely to announce any new measures, arguing instead that a recent raft of policy moves still need time to unfold, analysts said.