European Central Bank Sits on Its Hands

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By Jon C. Ogg Published
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The European Central Bank (ECB) may have found that it has its back up against the wall when it comes to monetary policy and interest rates, versus a declining economy that has to worry about deflation. So what is the best or only thing for Mario Draghi to do? Apparently, the best thing to do is to sit on his hands.

At the ECB policy meeting on Thursday, the Governing Council decided to take the unchanged route. This leaves the interest rate on the main refinancing operations, and the interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility will remain unchanged at 0.05%, 0.30% and -0.20%, respectively.

A press conference will begin shortly, and it is almost always within the statements from Draghi and his team of bankers that investors find the tidbits of data that they really trade off of.

Europe is caught between a rock and a hard place, while the United States keeps fighting every last bit of urge to raise rates. The euro is at $1.2636, versus a 52-week range of $1.2573 to $1.3990.

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About the Author Jon C. Ogg →

Jon Ogg has been a financial news analyst since 1997. Mr. Ogg set up one of the first audio squawk box services for traders called TTN, which he sold in 2003. He has previously worked as a licensed broker to some of the top U.S. and E.U. financial institutions, managed capital, and has raised private capital at the seed and venture stage. He has lived in Copenhagen, Denmark, as well as New York and Chicago, and he now lives in Houston, Texas. Jon received a Bachelor of Business Administration in finance at University of Houston in 1992. a673b.bigscoots-temp.com.

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