ECB hold rates unchanged as policymakers focus on asset purchase plan
NAPLES, Italy—The European Central Bank took no new action on Thursday, despite inflation weakening to a five-year low, signaling it will wait to see if stimulus measures undertaken in recent months lift the eurozone’s weak economy.
ECB President Mario Draghi, however, emphasized the central bank is still focused on providing stimulus. The bank’s news conference on Thursday was held in the historic Italian coastal city of Naples, where hundreds of demonstrators turned out to protest against the ECB and government austerity measures in Europe.
“We did a lot of things since June, unprecedented things,” Mr. Draghi said, noting that their effect of stimulus on the economy has yet to be fully felt. Among the moves, the ECB lowered the interest rate on bank deposits parked at the ECB to negative territory, a first for this central bank, and added new lending and private-asset purchase programs.
European stocks fell Thursday after the ECB disappointed some investors who had hoped for stronger hints that eurozone monetary authorities were moving toward more aggressive action.
