FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The Latest on the European Central Bank’s monetary policy meeting (all times local):
1:45 p.m.
The European Central Bank has confirmed it is halving its monthly bond purchases to 15 billion euros ($17.4 billion) as it scales back its post-crisis stimulus efforts before stopping them at the end of the year.
The chief monetary authority for the 19 countries that use the euro announced the decision Thursday after the decision by its 25-member governing council at the bank’s headquarters in Frankfurt.
The step was in effect already announced at the bank’s June 14 meeting. The bank set out its plans to halt the stimulus in December and postpone any interest rate increase until well after that. Analysts do not expect a rate hike until the second half of 2019 at the earliest.
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8:00 a.m.
The European Central Bank is expected to ratchet back its stimulus efforts again on Thursday as it gingerly phases out extraordinary support for the economy left over from the Great Recession and the euro currency union’s debt crisis.
The bank’s 25-member governing council is expected to cut its monthly bond-purchase stimulus to 15 billion euros ($17.4 billion) a month from 30 billion a month, on the way to ending the purchases at the end of the year.
The ECB is due to announce that step in a statement, after President Mario Draghi and other top officials pre-announced the bank’s upcoming moves at their last meeting on June 14. The ECB is also expected to underline its intention to not raise its interest rates until at least the middle of 2019.
