ECB interest rates remain unchanged at 1%

Updated: 22:21, Thursday, 9 February 2012

The European Central Bank has left interest rates unchanged.

1 of 1The ECB extended emergency loans to banks
The ECB extended emergency loans to banks

The European Central Bank has left its main interest rate unchanged at a record low of 1%.

The bank has now left rates alone for two meetings in a row while it waits to see whether the eurozone economy needs more help from further cuts.

Many economists predict at least a mild recession in the eurozone.

The ECB has meanwhile extended emergency loans to banks to strengthen the financial sector against the debt crisis.

ECB president Mario Draghi told reporters that the ECB did not discuss any future change in interest rates today.

He said the eurozone's economic performance was "very weak" in the final quarter of last year, but there were signs of stabilisation early this year.

The ECB chief also said stress in financial markets had diminished after ECB measures, including the provision of three-year loans to banks. He said this measure had averted a credit crunch in the eurozone.

He said the impact of the ECB's measures may not have been fully felt yet, and that it would be watching bank lending figures closely in the coming months.

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