Today the European Central Bank governing body has cut the key interest rate bank rate bringing it down to 2 percent. This is done with the hope of stimulating the EU economy by making money more available in the market.
At today’s meeting the Governing Council of the ECB took the following monetary policy decisions:
1. The interest rate on the main refinancing operations of the Eurosystem will be decreased by 50 basis points to 2.00%, starting from the operation to be settled on 21 January 2009.
2. The interest rate on the marginal lending facility will be set at 3.00%, with effect from 21 January 2009.
3. The interest rate on the deposit facility will be set at 1.00%, with effect from 21 January 2009.
These decisions are in accordance with the Governing Council’s decision on 18 December 2008 to restore the width of the corridor of standing facility rates around the interest rate on the main refinancing operation to 200 basis points.
The President of the ECB will comment on the considerations underlying these decisions at a press conference starting at 2.30 p.m. CET today.
European Central Bank
Directorate Communications
Press and Information Division
Kaiserstrasse 29, D-60311 Frankfurt am Main
Tel.: +49 69 1344 7455, Fax: +49 69 1344 7404
Internet: http://www.ecb.europa.eu
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