Eurozone interest rate stays at 1%

by Richard Kilner

Story link: Eurozone interest rate stays at 1%

The Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) has announced it is keeping the eurozone interest rate at 1%.

The decision to retain rates at the lowest level seen during the euro’s brief lifespan comes on the same day as the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee also elected to keep the British interest rate at a historically low level (0.5%).

Elsewhere in the world the Reserve Bank of Australia and the Bank of Israel have both, in recent months, marginally increased rates by 25 basis points, marking them out from the central bank crowd which rushed to cut rates during the financial crisis but have, by and large, not increased them since those turbulent months.

In the second quarter of this year some major economies, including France and Germany, two of Europe’s three big economies, pulled out of recession, and should growth continue in the eurozone it is possible that rates there could begin to rise.