ECB to Cut Interest Rates
- Written by E.Tsiliopoulos
ECB head, Mario Draghi, is expected this coming Thursday to reduce the rate at which commercial banks borrow from by 0.10% (from0.25% to 0.15%) in order to encourage business lending.
The ECB is also expected to cut the interest rate it pays to banks.
Draghi is under pressure to launch bank lending after recent figures showed that Netherlands, Italy, Finland and Portugal saw their economies contract in the first three months of the year while France remained stagnated.
Low inflation across Eurozone countries has also discouraged shoppers from spending, another factor that has been taken under consideration by the ECB.
In April inflation rose to 0.7 from 0.5% in March, but remained in what the ECB calls the "danger zone" of below 1%, and well below the ECB's target of close to 2%.
The ECB, will announce its decision on Thursday, however at the last policy meeting in May, mr. Draghi had said the ECB was “comfortable with acting in June if updated staff forecasts showed the situation remained the same or worse”.
Related items
-
Greece and Israel signed the 2023 Defense Cooperation Program
-
Greece raises minimum wage to 780 euros from April 1
-
FM Dendias visits Greek diaspora in Montreal with Canadian counterpart
-
Sifnos: High in the preferences of Germans and Austrians in 2023
-
Greek intel service cites case of ‘sleeper cell’ spy; attempt by third country to engage in ID theft
Latest from E.Tsiliopoulos
- Greece and Israel signed the 2023 Defense Cooperation Program
- Greece raises minimum wage to 780 euros from April 1
- FM Dendias visits Greek diaspora in Montreal with Canadian counterpart
- Sifnos: High in the preferences of Germans and Austrians in 2023
- Greek intel service cites case of ‘sleeper cell’ spy; attempt by third country to engage in ID theft