FX.co ★ ECB leaves interest rates unchanged

The European Central Bank has decided not to make adjustments to its monetary policy at its meeting on Thursday. The interest rate on the ECB's main refinancing operations, as well as the interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility will remain unchanged at 0.00%, 0.25% and -0.50% respectively.

Market players expected the EU regulator to tighten its policy after the release of EU CPI data, which indicated that consumer prices have hit record highs. However, the ECB did not meet these expectations.

The ECB's president Christine Lagarde is expected to shed more light on ECB's plans at the post-meeting press conference. If Lagarde signals that some board members voted for hiking interest rates, or that the policy could be tightened depending on the inflationary pressure, the euro can possibly recover strongly today.