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ECB cuts rates by 25 basis points, as expected

(Sharecast News) - The European Central Bank cut interest rates on Thursday by 25 basis points, as expected. Policymakers reduced the deposit rate to 2.25%, in what marked the seventh cut in a row.

The ECB said in a statement: "The euro area economy has been building up some resilience against global shocks, but the outlook for growth has deteriorated owing to rising trade tensions.

"Increased uncertainty is likely to reduce confidence among households and firms, and the adverse and volatile market response to the trade tensions is likely to have a tightening impact on financing conditions. These factors may further weigh on the economic outlook for the euro area."

Carsten Brzeski, global head of macro at ING, said: "What started last year in June as the European Central Bank's very measured attempt to gradually reduce the level of monetary policy restrictiveness has become a rush towards neutral interest rates, and there's more still to come.

"With the latest developments, escalating trade tensions, unprecedented policy uncertainty and the strengthening of the euro exchange rate, today's ECB's decision to cut interest rates by 25bp - bringing the deposit rate to 2.25% - came as little surprise."

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