ECB leaves interest rates unchanged
03/03/2005 - 13:23:16The European Central Bank has left interest rates unchanged today after poor fourth-quarter growth data and signs of declining business confidence underscored worries about the strength of the continent’s modest economic recovery.
The ECB has left its key refinancing rate at 2% since June 2003.
EU data last month showed that the economy in the 12 countries that use the euro grew by only 0.2% in the fourth quarter, slowing from 0.3% growth in the previous three months and undercutting many economists’ expectations. Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and Greece all saw output shrink.
