ECB maintains its rates as expected, Deposit Rate at 2.50%; says financing conditions have tightened since the Governing Council’s last meeting which is likely to weigh on inflation and growth

INTEREST RATE DECISION The Governing Council today decided to keep the three key ECB interest rates unchanged. The interest rates on the deposit facility, the main refinancing operations and the marginal lending facility will remain unchanged at 2.50%, 2.65% and 2.90% respectively. INFLATION AND GROWTH Energy prices have continued to rise, posing upside risks to the inflation outlook and downside risks to the growth outlook. While the full effects of the energy shock are still unfolding, underlying inflation has remained broadly stable so far and wages do not show a material response at this stage. The increased magnitude and duration of the energy shock, as well as the implications for indirect and second-round effects, are likely to drive up inflation and lower growth. Financing conditions have tightened since the Governing Council’s last meeting, which is likely to weigh on inflation and growth. The Governing Council is committed to setting monetary policy to ensure that inflation stabilises at its 2% target in the medium term. MONETARY POLICY OUTLOOK The Governing Council remains well positioned to navigate the current elevated uncertainty. It will follow a data-dependent and meeting-by-meeting approach to determining the appropriate monetary policy stance. In particular, the Governing Council’s interest rate decisions will be based on its assessment of the inflation outlook and the risks surrounding it, in light of the incoming economic and financial data, as well as the dynamics of underlying inflation and the strength of monetary policy transmission. The Governing Council is not pre-committing to a particular rate path. ASSET PURCHASE PROGRAMMES (APP AND PEPP) The APP and PEPP portfolios are declining at a measured and predictable pace, as the Eurosystem no longer reinvests the principal payments from maturing securities. POLICY INSTRUMENTS The Governing Council stands ready to adjust all of its instruments within its mandate to ensure that inflation stabilises at its 2% target in the medium term and to preserve the smooth functioning of monetary policy transmission. Moreover, the Transmission Protection Instrument is available to counter unwarranted, disorderly market dynamics that pose a serious threat to the transmission of monetary policy across all euro area countries, thus allowing the Governing Council to more effectively deliver on its price stability mandate.