There are two major central bank policy decisions from Europe today. Both the Bank of England and the European Central Bank have announced their latest rate decisions. As expected both kept their respective policies steady.
The Bank of England choose to keep its bank rate at half a percent and its 375 billion pound asset purchasing program intact, that’s despite unemployment falling below the 7-percent threshold set by the BOE and rising home prices.
The ECB kept its main benchmark rate unchanged at a-quarter of a percent waiting to see whether a slight uptick in inflation last month gains traction.
The ECB is also awaiting updated economic forecasts in June to assess whether to counter deflation risks. No changes to the deposit rate or the start of an asset purchasing program, as some analysts have hoped for, were adopted by the ECB.