European Central Bank leaves rates unchanged as expected

30th Apr 2026 13:44

(Sharecast News) - The European Central Bank left interest rates unchanged on Thursday, as widely expected.

The deposit rate was held at 2%, while the rates on the main refinancing operations and the marginal lending facility were also unchanged, at 2.15% and 2.40% respectively.

The Bank said that while incoming information has been broadly consistent with its previous assessment of the inflation outlook, upside risks to inflation and downside risks to growth have intensified.

"The war in the Middle East has led to a sharp increase in energy prices, pushing up inflation and weighing on economic sentiment. The implications of the war for medium-term inflation and economic activity will depend on the intensity and duration of the energy price shock and the scale of its indirect and second-round effects," it said.

"The longer the war continues and the longer energy prices remain high, the stronger is the likely impact on broader inflation and the economy."

The ECB said it remains "well positioned" to navigate current uncertainty and will "closely monitor" the situation, following a data-dependent and meeting-by-meeting approach to determine the appropriate policy stance.

Danske Bank said: "Lagarde refrained from giving firm guidance of the future rate path and stated that the ECB will have more information in June to take a decision, including new projections and scenarios. By extension, the market reaction was highly contained. We continue to expect the ECB to increase policy rates by 25bp in June and July, respectively."