The European Central Bank cut interest rates for the first time in 10 months on Thursday and held out the possibility of further policy action to support the recession-hit euro zone economy. Responding to a drop in euro zone inflation well below its target level and rising unemployment, the ECB lowered its main rate by a quarter percentage point to a record low 0.50 percent.
ECB President Mario Draghi, promising to provide as much liquidity as euro zone banks need well into next year and to help smaller companies get access to credit, also indicated that some policymakers had pushed for a bigger cut. "There was a very, very strong prevailing consensus towards an interest rate cut," he told a news conference after the ECB's Governing Council met in Bratislava. "Within that, there was a prevailing consensus for a cut of only 25 basis points."
Reuters
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