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Added on the 13/02/2018 19:04:00 - Copyright : Euronews EN
The European Central Bank (ECB) announces its first interest rate cut since 2019, reducing borrowing costs from record highs, but giving few clues about its next move while warning of continuing inflation pressures. "The governing council today decided to lower the three key ECB interest rates by 25 basis points," says Christine Lagarde, ECB President. SOUNDBITE
European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde says the institution will freeze borrowing costs again on Thursday but warns that inflation could pick up again in the near term, in an apparent pushback against market hopes of early rate cuts in 2024. It is the second time in a row the central bank has held rates, following a run of historic hikes to tame runaway price rises. SOUNDBITE
The European Central Bank unleashes another jumbo interest rate hike on the eurozone in an effort to combat record-high inflation, which has soared towards 10 per cent, and bring rising prices under control. The decision has been made despite concerns mounting over a darkening economic outlook. "With this third major policy rate increase in a row" says Christine Lagarde, ECB President, "we have made substantial progress in withdrawing monetary policy accommodation." SOUNDBITE
European Central Bank President, Christine Lagarde, announces the ECB is lifting its key rates of interest by 75 basis points, leaving them sitting in a range of between 0.75 and 1.5 percent. It came after the bank hiked rates by 50 basis points in July, its first increase in more than a decade, in order to tame record eurozone inflation. These levels "will ensure the timely return of inflation to our 2% medium term target" she says, during a press conference in Frankfurt. SOUNDBITE
Workers at Felixstowe port in southeastern England are on the second day of an eight-day strike over pay, with logistics the latest industry to see industrial action as inflation in the UK hits 10 percent. Nearly 2,000 unionised employees at the port, including crane drivers, machine operators and stevedores, are involved in the first strike at Felixstowe since 1989. IMAGES
Speaking at the opening of the Farnborough International Airshow, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer says he respects Joe Biden's decision to drop out of the US presidential race. Starmer notes it was "not an easy decision, but a decision that I know that he will have arrived at taking into account the best interest of the American people." SOUNDBITE