The European Central Bank kept its interest rates and policy plans unchanged on Thursday after Britain’s shock vote to leave the European Union.
ECB President Mario Draghi said it was too early to ascertain the full impact of Brexit, however, and underlined that the euro zone’s central bank was prepared to take more actions to lift inflation and economic growth if necessary.
“The risks to the euro zone economy remain tilted to the downside,” he told a news conference after the ECB left rates and other measures unchanged.
It kept its deposit rate at minus 0.4 percent and the main refinancing rate at 0.00 percent, both record lows, as it seeks to cut borrowing costs for firms and force banks to lend money out rather than park cash with it.
The bank said rates would stay at present or lower levels for an extended period, and well beyond the current period in which it is buying assets to boost inflation and pump money into the euro zone’s underperforming economy.
