The European Central Bank held interest rates steady on Thursday for the first time in over a year as policymakers moved into their next phase of fighting inflation.
Officials have shifted their focus to how long they will need to maintain high interest rates in order to push inflation all the way down to the central bank's target.
“Inflation is still expected to stay too high for too long, and domestic price pressures remain strong,” the central bank said in a statement.
The decision to hold interest rates was telegraphed last month when, after their 10th consecutive increase, policymakers signaled they might be done.
But the rate isn’t forecast to return to the central bank’s 2 percent target until the third quarter of 2025, the central bank’s staff projected last month.
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