The European Central Bank (ECB) today announced its decision to maintain key interest rates at their present levels. The main refinancing rate remains at 0.00%, the marginal lending facility rate at 0.30%, and the deposit facility rate at -0.40%.

In addition to holding rates, the ECB Governing Council decided to extend the asset purchase programme, also known as quantitative easing (QE), beyond its initial end date of March 2017. The program will now continue until at least December 2017, or beyond if necessary, until the ECB sees a sustained adjustment in the path of inflation consistent with its inflation aim.

The monthly purchases will continue at a pace of €80 billion until the end of March 2017. From April 2017, the monthly purchases will be reduced to €60 billion until the end of December 2017.

These decisions reflect the ECB’s commitment to supporting the Eurozone economy and ensuring that inflation returns to its target level of close to, but below, 2% over the medium term.

President Mario Draghi will hold a press conference later today to provide further details on the ECB’s monetary policy decisions and the economic outlook for the Eurozone.