ECB leave rates unchanged at 1%

INTEREST rates were kept on hold by the European Central Bank (ECB) yesterday with analysts confident it will stay that way until the middle of next year.

The ECB did however caution against hopes of a speedy economic recovery after leaving benchmark interest rates at a record low 1% for the fifth month in a row.

ECB president Jean-Claude Trichet also turned up the heat on governments to rein in ballooning budget deficits and said he saw hopeful signs of a normalisation in money markets given lower demand for central bank loans.