The European Central Bank has not raised rates since July 2022.

refinancing rates and marginal lending rates are 4.50% and 4.75% respectively.

In September, the ECB, led by Frenchwoman Christine Lagarde, raised all of its key interest rates as a result of Governing Council deliberations marked by a dilemma between fighting still-resistant price rises and signs of shrinking economic activity. However, eurozone inflation unexpectedly fell to 4.3% in September from 5.2% in August from the same period a year earlier. Inflation in the eurozone has "declined substantially" but "should remain too high for too long," the ECB said.

The data has alarmed some sectors, including the real estate market, however, as rate hikes' 'there was a better time in the last sixteen months for the ECB to pause' this Thursday, summarized economist Carsten Brzeski of ING. Bank of France Governor Francois Villeroy de Gallo considered the current level of interest rates "appropriate" and expressed confidence in inflation falling to the ECB's 2% target by 2025.

On the other hand, "risks of renewed inflation remain and are rising" due to the crisis in the Middle East, which has already driven up oil and gas prices, notes KfW chief economist Fritzi Köhler-Gabe. Also important is the issue of future wage increases, which could contribute to inflation.

The ECB is following the lead of other monetary institutions. In mid-September, the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) left its key' 'interest rate unchanged, followed by the Bank of England after 14 consecutive rate hikes.