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Article: ECB surprises markets.(European Central Bank)
- Article from:
- Europe
- Article date:
- May 1, 1999
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1999 Delegation of the European Commission. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The euro celebrated its 100th day with a bang. Just forty-eight hours before the big event, the European Central Bank cut interest rates in mid-April by a bigger-than-expected 0.5 percent. The move brought the ECB's main refinancing rate down to 2.5 percent, and the bank described its action as a contribution to creating a climate for growth in the eleven-nation euro zone.
Financial markets focused on the fact that the ECB had gone beyond the widely expected 0.25 percent cut. Many analysts recalled the similarly surprising action last December when the ECB coordinated a rate cut in the countries about to adopt the euro from 3.3 percent to 3 percent.
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