FRANKFURT AM MAIN: The European Central Bank held interest rates at historic lows and stood by its mass bond-buying Thursday as observers looked to its president Mario Draghi for hints on when the flood of ECB cash might dry up.
The ECB's governing council -- made up of the 19 eurozone central bank governors and six board members -- voted to keep the benchmark "refi" refinancing rate at a record-low 0.0 percent, a spokeswoman said.
They also left the rate on the bank's marginal lending facility unchanged at 0.25 percent, while the deposit facility rate remained at minus 0.4 percent -- meaning banks have to pay to park their excess cash with the ECB.
Although inflation is rising in the single currency area, observers were not expecting any changes in rates, which the ECB has held steady since March 2016 and repeatedly said it will leave unchanged.
The bank's decision to stick with its "quantitative easing" programme, under which it buys tens of billions of euros in government and corporate bonds per month, was also unsurprising after governors voted to extend it at December's meeting.
All eyes will now be on Draghi's press conference starting at 1330 GMT.
ECB watchers will hunt for changes in the bank's updated economic forecasts and any hint that the bank is more open to raising rates or winding down QE in response to inflation surpassing its target of "close to, but below 2.0 percent" for the first time in years in February.
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