The European Central Bank (ECB) is expected to lower its key interest rate, the so-called deposit rate, by 0.25 percentage points to 3.25 percent on Thursday. This is shown by a compilation of forecasts and market pricing ahead of the announcement.
The need to tighten up to curb inflationary pressure in the euro countries no longer seems as great, where, among other things, the German economy is currently experiencing a prolonged period of stagnation and major problems in the heavy industry.
The interest rate cut, if it happens, would be the third this year. This was considered virtually unthinkable among ECB decision-makers just a month ago and was not at all included in the signals that came out of the ECB's latest interest rate decision on September 12 – on the contrary.
ECB President Christine Lagarde will deliver the interest rate announcement from the Slovenian capital Ljubljana on Thursday. Ahead of this, a new Zew index on future confidence in the EU's economic engine, Germany, will be released on Tuesday.
