FRANKFURT, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- The European Central Bank (ECB) on Thursday decided to maintain the key interest rates for the euro area unchanged.
The eurozone base interest rate will remain at 0.00 percent, with the marginal lending rate and deposit rate remaining at 0.25 percent and minus 0.40 percent respectively.
In line with the forward guidance released after last ECB Governing Council meetings in June and July, the ECB continued to expect that the key interest rates will remain at their present levels at least through the summer of 2019, and in any case for as long as necessary to ensure the continued sustained convergence of inflation to levels that are below, but close to, 2 percent over the medium term, said the bank.
Besides, ECB reaffirmed that the monthly net asset purchases will be cut to 15 billion euros from October until the end of December 2018 and that net purchases will then end.
ECB President Mario Draghi will comment on the monetary policy decisions at a press conference later in the day.
