ECB leaves interest rates unchanged in January as expected

• ECB keeps interest rate on main refinancing operation steady at 0%.
• Shared currency largely ignored the rate announcement, EUR/USD is flat below 1.11.
• ECB President Lagarde will deliver her remarks on policy outlook at 13:30 GMT.

At its monetary policy meeting held on January 23rd, the Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) decided to leave the interest rates on the main refinancing operations and the interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility unchanged at 0.00%, 0.25% and -0.50%, respectively, as expected. Attention now turns to ECB President Christine Lagarde's first press conference at 13:30 GMT.

The EUR/USD pair was last seen trading at 1.1090, where it was virtually unchanged on a daily basis.

Key takeaways

"Rates at present or lower levels until inflation outlook robustly converges to target, reflected in underlying inflation."

"APP will run for as long as necessary, end shortly before the first rate hike."

"Will reinvest app in full for an extended time after the first rate hike, for as long as necessary."