The European Central Bank did not change key interest rates after Thursday's meeting. According to the ECB statement, the base rate on loans remains at 4.5%, the deposit rate remains at 4%, and the rate on margin loans is 4.75%. The report also says that inflation in the eurozone has slowed in recent months, but is likely to accelerate temporarily in the short term. The ECB Governing Council expressed its determination to return inflation to the 2% target and believes that the current key rates can contribute to achieving this goal if they are maintained for a sufficiently long time. The central bank also stressed that it will keep key rates at levels that limit economic activity for as long as necessary. The regulator will continue to evaluate data, especially inflation and monetary indicators, when making decisions on rates and the duration of restrictive policies. In addition, the ECB has decided to step up the normalization of its balance sheet. He will continue to reinvest funds from the repayment of securities acquired under the emergency asset repurchase program (PEPP) in the first half of 2024. From the second half of 2024, the ECB will begin to reduce the portfolio of securities acquired under PEPP by an average of 7.5 billion euros per month. The regulator plans to complete the reinvestment of PEPP funds by the end of 2024. The portfolio of securities acquired under another asset repurchase program (APP) will also decrease at a moderate and predictable pace, since the ECB will no longer reinvest funds from redeemable securities.
