The European Central Bank (ECB) during its latest meeting on Thursday decided to leave the interest rate on refinancing operations unchanged at 0%, as well as the deposit rate at -0.4%.
The decision taken on Thursday was largely expected by the majority of investors, while it was reiterated within the statement that the interest rates are expected to be kept at the same levels or even lower for “an extended period of time” and much longer than the duration of the Quantity Easing (QE) programme. The ECB pledged to continue with its €80 billion-per-month asset purchasing schedule at least until the end of March 2017, and possibly longer if it’s needed until inflation starts getting on target.
Many analysts predicted that the ECB would refrain from deciding on any adjustments on Thursday, and they also expected its President Mario Draghi to hold back from announcing any adjustments to its current bond buying programme including its duration. Back in September the Eurozone’s policymakers disappointed the markets by not deciding on the QE programme’s extension beyond its March 2017 deadline, while there was even more confusion due to reports that there was talk of ending the programme before its deadline. However, these reports were nullified by the ECB who said that there were never talks held for the matter.
During his scheduled press conference, Mario Draghi said that recent economic data releases were in line with projections presented by the ECB on its September meeting. The Eurozone’s economy is still resilient to the global economic volatility and according to the ECB President, this has been achieved by the monetary policy decisions undertaken so far.
Inflation is expected by Mario Draghi to increase before the end of the year as a result of increased crude oil and energy prices, but it’s still uncertain whether the medium and long term inflation trend will turn upwards. Currently, inflation levels are well under the target set by the ECB of 2%. He once again repeated his request for the Eurozone nations’ policy makers to continue working towards structural reforms with the aim to boost economic growth, and to improve productivity and the business sector.
The euro declined following lack of data regarding the future of the QE programme. The EUR/USD on Thursday fell as low as 1.09149 while the trading session ended with losses of 0.4%. The currency pair’s losses continued on Friday as it fell below the 1.09 level and ended its fourth consecutive week in the red.
It is likely that the next ECB meeting in December will be of high importance. Although the ECB President said that the policymakers didn’t discuss the possibility of extending the asset purchasing programme, he indicated that the next meeting will include information as to its future. However, he made it clear that a possible decision to taper the programme will not be in a form of an immediate stop. There was also specific reference made to the reports who recently said that tapering could begin before March 2017, by saying that they are unsubstantiated.
The European Central Bank (ECB) during its latest meeting on Thursday decided to leave the interest rate on refinancing operations unchanged at 0%, as well as the deposit rate at -0.4%.
The decision taken on Thursday was largely expected by the majority of investors, while it was reiterated within the statement that the interest rates are expected to be kept at the same levels or even lower for “an extended period of time” and much longer than the duration of the Quantity Easing (QE) programme. The ECB pledged to continue with its €80 billion-per-month asset purchasing schedule at least until the end of March 2017, and possibly longer if it’s needed until inflation starts getting on target.
Many analysts predicted that the ECB would refrain from deciding on any adjustments on Thursday, and they also expected its President Mario Draghi to hold back from announcing any adjustments to its current bond buying programme including its duration. Back in September the Eurozone’s policymakers disappointed the markets by not deciding on the QE programme’s extension beyond its March 2017 deadline, while there was even more confusion due to reports that there was talk of ending the programme before its deadline. However, these reports were nullified by the ECB who said that there were never talks held for the matter.
During his scheduled press conference, Mario Draghi said that recent economic data releases were in line with projections presented by the ECB on its September meeting. The Eurozone’s economy is still resilient to the global economic volatility and according to the ECB President, this has been achieved by the monetary policy decisions undertaken so far.
Inflation is expected by Mario Draghi to increase before the end of the year as a result of increased crude oil and energy prices, but it’s still uncertain whether the medium and long term inflation trend will turn upwards. Currently, inflation levels are well under the target set by the ECB of 2%. He once again repeated his request for the Eurozone nations’ policy makers to continue working towards structural reforms with the aim to boost economic growth, and to improve productivity and the business sector.
The euro declined following lack of data regarding the future of the QE programme. The EUR/USD on Thursday fell as low as 1.09149 while the trading session ended with losses of 0.4%. The currency pair’s losses continued on Friday as it fell below the 1.09 level and ended its fourth consecutive week in the red.
It is likely that the next ECB meeting in December will be of high importance. Although the ECB President said that the policymakers didn’t discuss the possibility of extending the asset purchasing programme, he indicated that the next meeting will include information as to its future. However, he made it clear that a possible decision to taper the programme will not be in a form of an immediate stop. There was also specific reference made to the reports who recently said that tapering could begin before March 2017, by saying that they are unsubstantiated.
The post EUR/USD falls below 1.09 after ECB meeting appeared first on Forex.Info.
Source: Easy Forex Forex.Info
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