John Fahey: A further reduction of 0.5% in interest rates over the rest of 2024 is plausible

Market rate expectations for the ECB have remained relatively stable over the last number of months

The ECB kept interest rates unchanged at its last meeting. Picture: Hannelore Foerster/Bloomberg via Getty Images

In the past week we have seen the summer round of the key central bank meetings get underway, with the European Central Bank (ECB) first up.

As expected, its Governing Council kept interest rates unchanged. The ‘hold’ on rates in July follows the 25 basis point cut implemented in June to the ECB’s main interest rates. The rate cut in June represented the first change in six meetings, and followed on from the rate hiking cycle in 2022-23.