European Central Bank Cuts Key Rate By Quarter Point
By Ria Novosti
The European Central Bank has decided to cut its key interest rate from December 14 by a quarter percentage point to 1 percent in a bid to stimulate bank lending and spur economic growth, the regulator said in a statement on Thursday.
The deposit facility rate was also cut by a quarter percentage point to 0.25 percent.
The European regulator took a decision to ease its monetary policy about a month after cutting the rate by 0.25 percentage points to 1.25 percent. Both rate cuts were made by ECB new President Mario Draghi in a bid to boost the bank’s efforts to battle the eurozone’s debt problem by reducing key interest rates.
This year, the European Central Bank raised the interest rate in April to 1.25 percent from a record low of 1 percent and raised it to 1.5 percent in July.
