Carsten Brzeski

The European Central Bank (ECB) has cut interest rates again as inflation in the Eurozone slows and economic growth falters. However, no clear guidance was given on future actions, even though investors expect continued easing in the coming months. The deposit rate was lowered by 25 basis points to 3.5%, a move anticipated after a similar cut in June.

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Buoyed by falling inflation, the European Central Bank is expected to keep borrowing costs on hold one last time on April 11 while laying the ground for a first interest rate cut in June.

The Frankfurt-based institution has left its key rates unchanged since October 2023, following an unprecedented streak of hikes to tame red-hot inflation.

The inflation that has squeezed European shoppers fell more than expected in March to 2.4 percent, as cost spikes in the grocery aisle eased and overall price rises headed down in the two biggest economies, Germany and France.

For the first time in over a year, European Central Bank (ECB) policymakers are expected to decide against raising interest rates again when they gather in Athens on Oct. 26.

Once red-hot, inflation, driven by Russia's invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, has started to ease, while the outlook for the economy has worsened.

Germany exported goods worth 130.4 billion euros ($139 billion) in April, data published by federal statistics agency Destatis said, a 1.2-percent increase on the previous month.

In March, demand for "made in Germany" goods plunged by 6 percent.

The European Central Bank (ECB) is set to draw a line under its massive bond-buying stimulus program at a meeting on June 9, as inflation in the eurozone soars to all-time highs.

German factory output fell in March, official figures published on May 6 showed, as Europe's economic powerhouse registered the impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.     

Production was down by 3.9 percent on the previous month, according to the federal statistics agency Destatis, having risen for five months in a row.    

Germany's industrial production posted a decline in December 2021 by 0.3 percent versus the previous month, the country's statistical authority said yesterday.

"Compared with December 2020, the decrease in calendar-adjusted production in industry amounted to 4.1 percent," Destatis said in a press release.

The European Central Bank (ECB) is considering what could be the best economic incentives for a possible package of measures, including a reduction in interest rates and a new buyback of bonds, to counteract concerns that growth is slower than expected, Associated Press reported.