Eurozone rate cut to 1%

by Richard Kilner

Story link: Eurozone rate cut to 1%

The Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) has reduced interest rates by 25 basis points to 1%.

The move follows a cut of the same size the previous month, and means that the present rate is a full 325 basis points lower than in July of last year.

Yesterday the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) elected to leave the British interest rate unchanged at 0.5%, the lowest since the central bank was first established in the 17th century.

Neither the ECB nor the Bank of England have a great deal of scope left for further interest rate cuts as they are already at historic lows.

The Bank of England has reacted by stepping beyond the usual boundaries of monetary action and enacting a programme of quantitative easing (presently worth a total of £125bn) for the first time.