ECB keeps rates on hold - again
FRANKFURT, Germany -- The European Central Bank has held the line on interest rates for the 12th straight month as monetary officials signaled they needed more than time to gauge the impact of high oil prices on inflation and economic growth.
Thursday's decision, which was widely expected, keeps the ECB's key lending rate for the 12 countries using the euro currency at an historic low of 2 percent.
The ECB rate has been unchanged since June 2003.
"Oil prices are a risk for inflation but they are also a risk for growth so it is not affecting ECB decision making in the short term," Reijo Heiskanen, a senior analyst at Nordea in Helsinki, told Reuters.
Markets are now waiting to see what the Bank of England will do after its two-day monetary policy committee meeting concludes next Thursday.
Last month, the BoE raised its key lending rate rates by a quarter point to 4.25 percent -- the third increase since November 2003 -- as officials attempted to cool a spending boom by British consumers.
"Retail spending continues to be robust, underpinned by income growth and unexpectedly strong house price inflation," the BoE said in a statement following its rate decision on May 6.
