The European Central Bank (ECB) on the 18th (local time) kept all three key policy rates, including the interest rate on deposits, unchanged.
The ECB said it held a currency policy meeting in Frankfurt, Germany, that day and kept the interest rate on deposits (2.00%), the main refinancing rate (2.15%), and the marginal lending rate (2.40%) unchanged. The ECB explained, "The latest assessment again confirmed that inflation will stabilize at the 2% target over the medium term."
With the ECB holding rates steady that day, the gap between the eurozone (20 countries using the euro) monetary policy benchmark, the interest rate on deposits, and Korea's base rate (2.50%) remained at 0.50 percentage point (p). After the U.S. Central Bank, the Federal Reserve (Fed), lowered the federal funds rate to 3.50–3.75% on the 10th, the rate gap between the eurozone and the United States narrowed to 1.50–1.75 percentage points.
Starting in June last year, the ECB cut policy rates a total of eight times over one year by 2.00 percentage points and, since then, kept them unchanged at all four meetings through that day.
In its economic outlook, the ECB raised its forecast for next year's consumer price inflation to 1.9% from 1.7% and its economic growth forecast to 1.2% from 1.0%.