ECB Holds Interest Rates at 2%, As Expected

24 July 2025

ECB Holds Interest Rates at 2%, As Expected
ECB President Christine Lagarde and Vice President Luis de Guindos at the Governing Council meeting at ECB headquarters in Frankfurt on July 24, 2025. Photo by the ECB.

By Marta Vilar – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – The European Central Bank’s Governing Council on Thursday decided to keep its key interest rates unchanged, as widely expected by markets and analysts.

The three ECB interest rates will stay at 2.0% for the deposit facility, at 2.15% for the main refinancing operations and at 2.40% for the marginal lending facility.

‘Inflation is currently at the 2% medium-term target’, the ECB said in a press release. ‘The incoming information is broadly in line with the Governing Council’s previous assessment of the inflation outlook.’

Domestic inflation was decreasing amid slower wage growth, the document said.

The economy had been resilient despite the challenging global environment, in part thanks to past monetary easing, said the ECB, which described current conditions as still ‘exceptionally uncertain’.

No macroeconomic projections were due this meeting. In June the ECB projected HICP of 2.0% in 2025, 1.6% in 2026 and 2.0% in 2027, with the measure ex-energy and food at 2.4% in 2025, 1.9% in 2026 and 1.9% in 2027.

In June, Eurozone GDP was projected to grow 0.9%, 1.1% and 1.3% in 2025, 2026 and 2027, respectively.