At its meeting in October, the European Central Bank (ECB) left interest rates unchanged. Last month it decided to raise the deposit rate to a record 4%. The most intense cycle of interest rate hikes since 1999 was paused at this level amid growing fears of a recession in the eurozone economy.
The rate on main refinancing operations, which provides the bulk of the liquidity of the banking system, remained at 4.5%, and the marginal rate on loans providing overnight credit to banks remained at 4.75%.
In its statement, the ECB confirmed that keeping borrowing costs at this level for quite some time would make a “significant contribution” to returning inflation to its 2% target.