ECB holds interest rates steady

FRANKFURT -- The European Central Bank (ECB) on Thursday decided to leave key interest rates unchanged at its first monetary policy meeting of 2026, marking the fifth consecutive hold since July 2025.

The deposit facility rate, the primary tool used by the ECB to steer monetary policy, remains unchanged at 2 percent, while the rates on the main refinancing operations and the marginal lending facility stay at 2.15 percent and 2.4 percent, respectively.

The central bank reconfirmed in a statement that the inflation outlook remains stable and that the economy has shown resilience.

The ECB has reiterated that it will stick to its data-dependent and meeting-by-meeting approach in determining its future monetary policy stance.

The latest assessment by the ECB also remains unchanged regarding the outlook for inflation, which is expected to stabilize at 2 percent in the medium term.

Commenting on the decision, Carsten Brzeski, global head of macro at ING Research, said the ECB's statement pointed to lingering uncertainty and reflected a heightened wait-and-see stance.