The European Central Bank (ECB) on Thursday decided to keep key interest rates unchanged at its first monetary policy meeting of 2026, marking the fifth consecutive hold since July 2025.
The deposit facility rate, the primary tool used by the ECB to steer monetary policy, remains unchanged at 2 percent, while the rates on the main refinancing operations and the marginal lending facility stay at 2.15 percent and 2.4 percent, respectively.
The central bank reconfirmed in a statement that the inflation outlook remains stable and that the economy has shown resilience.
The ECB has reiterated that it will stick to its data-dependent and meeting-by-meeting approach in determining its future monetary policy stance.
The latest assessment by the ECB also remains unchanged regarding the outlook for inflation, which is expected to stabilize at 2 percent in the medium term.
Commenting on the decision, Carsten Brzeski, global head of macro at ING Research, said the ECB's statement pointed to lingering uncertainty and reflected a heightened wait-and-see stance.
ECB holds interest rates steady
ECB holds interest rates steady
Global food commodity prices climbed for a second consecutive month in March, driven mainly by higher energy costs linked to escalating conflict in the Middle East, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) said in report released on Friday.
The FAO Food Price Index, which tracks monthly changes in the international prices of a basket of globally traded food commodities, averaged 128.5 points in March, up 2.4 percent from February and 1.0 percent above its level a year ago.
According to the report, the FAO Vegetable Oil Index and Sugar Price Index showed the largest increases, up 5.1 percent and 7.2 percent, respectively.
The FAO Cereal Price Index increased by 1.5 percent from the previous month, driven primarily by higher world wheat prices, which rose 4.3 percent.
The FAO Meat Price Index rose by 1.0 percent from the previous month, and the FAO All-Rice Price Index declined by 3.0 percent in March, according to the report.
FAO stated that rising energy and fertilizer prices have been driving up agricultural input costs.
If the conflict stretches beyond 40 days, farmers will have to choose to farm the same with fewer inputs, plant less, or switch to less intensive fertilizer crops, according to FAO Chief Economist Maximo Torero.
These choices will hit future yields and shape food supply and commodity prices for the rest of this year and beyond, Torero said.
Global food prices rise for 2nd consecutive month in March amid Middle East conflict: FAO
