The European Central Bank (ECB) decided to keep its expansionary monetary policy unchanged at the December meeting, where interest rates were kept at zero levels, interest on lending at 0.25% and interest on deposits at -0.40%. It also kept the asset purchase program at 30 billion euros from January 2018 to September 2018.
The bank is expected to continue its asset purchases program until September 2018 or later if necessary, and may even increase the size of the program or extend its duration to support economic growth, the bank said. It added that the interest rate is expected to close at low levels for a long period of time. The markets are looking forward to the press conference of ECB President Mario Draghi to take stock of the bank's direction for the coming period.
