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ECB Leaves Interest Rates Unchanged
The European Central Bank kept its benchmark interest rate at a record-low 1% for the sixth consecutive month despite pressures to provide relief from Europe's escalating debt crisis.
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The European Central Bank kept its benchmark interest rate at a record-low 1% for the sixth consecutive month despite pressures to provide relief from Europe's escalating debt crisis.
Some economists had urged the central bank to cut interest rates to boost bank liquidity. They cited the instability caused by Spain's worsening banking woes and the threat that Greece might withdraw from the EU.
ECB President Mario Draghi predicts the eurozone economy will gradually recover later this year. He says the region's crisis is "far away" from the severity of the U.S. financial market meltdown four years ago that triggered a global recession.
Draghi adds that the bank is "ready to act" if the eurozone economy weakens further. But he cautions that the central bank has a limited ability to cure the region's problems.
Draghi reiterates that national governments within the eurozone must make "high-level decisions" about the future of European integration.
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