Investing.com - Interest rates will remain at current levels for as long as needed to raise inflation towards its target, the minutes of the European Central Bank’s June meeting said on Thursday.
The minutes of the bank’s June 13-14 meeting noted that the open-endedness of interest rate guidance should be emphasized.
"It was felt that the open-ended character of the state-contingent component (of the guidance) should be emphasized, with policy rates expected to remain at their present levels for as long as necessary to ensure... a sustained adjustment in the path of inflation," the ECB said.
At that meeting, the ECB signaled plans to wind up its bond purchasing program stimulus program by the end of the year, but reiterated that it expects to keep interest rates on hold "through the summer of 2019".
The ECB said that it anticipates its asset purchase program will end in December after halving to €15 billion per month in September from €30 billion at present.
The minutes said that given uncertainty it would be prudent to leave the end of quantitative easing conditional on incoming economic data.
Policymakers also cautioned that a slowdown in growth seen in the first quarter was likely to extend into the second quarter for some countries, implying near-term risks to the economic outlook.