The European Central Bank pauses after four months of intense activity against the coronavirus. The Frankfurt institution has chosen to leave its key rates unchanged, the refinancing rate at 0% and the deposit rate at -1.50% It confirmed that it would continue its exceptional asset purchase program until the end of the economic crisis born of the pandemic.
The ECB will now wait to be able to assess the nascent recovery of the euro area before launching any new measure.
“The data we receive and the results of surveys suggest that economic activity improved considerably in May and June from its April low, notes the President of the ECB, the Frenchwoman Christine Lagarde. At the same time, economic indicators remain well below levels recorded before the pandemic and the recovery is only in its infancy and remains uneven across sectors and jurisdictions. “
On June 4, the Governing Council of the ECB decided to increase the envelope allocated to its asset purchase program “pandemic emergency” by 600 billion euros, bringing the amount of its endowment to more than ” one billion euros (1.35 billion euros). A measure that supports loans to businesses and households, and therefore growth and prices.
“The ECB’s Governing Council urges that further, ambitious and timely efforts be made to prepare for and support the recovery, continues Christine Lagarde_. We therefore warmly welcome the European Commission’s proposal “Next Generation EU”, which aims to support the regions and sectors hardest hit by the pandemic, to strengthen the single market and to set up a sustainable recovery. prosperous.”_
Christine Lagarde and the ECB thus put pressure on European leaders who meet Friday and Saturday in Brussels to try to agree on a program of aid to the most affected countries, negotiations which generate divisions between countries of the North and South.
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