Non-final working translation 

Monetary policy decisions made between 2015 and 2024 can be found at bundesbank.de .

The Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) decides to lower the three key ECB interest rates by 25 basis points. Accordingly, the interest rate on the deposit facility stands at 2.75 %. The interest rates on the main refinancing operations and the marginal lending facility stand at 2.90 % and 3.15 %, respectively. The Governing Council judges that the disinflation process is well on track. Inflation is set to return to the 2 % medium-term target in the course of the year. 

The Governing Council is determined to ensure that inflation stabilises sustainably at its 2 % medium-term target. It continues to follow a data-dependent and meeting-by-meeting approach to determining the appropriate monetary policy stance. The Governing Council is not pre-committing to a particular rate path.

Asset purchase programme (APP) and pandemic emergency purchase programme (PEPP) portfolios continue to decrease as principal payments are no longer reinvested. With the remaining amounts borrowed under the targeted longer-term refinancing operations repaid in full on 18 December 2024, this part of the balance sheet normalisation process is now concluded.

The Governing Council lowers the three key ECB interest rates by a further 25 basis points. The interest rate on the deposit facility now stands at 2.50 %, while the interest rate on the main refinancing operations is 2.65 % and the interest rate on the marginal lending facility is 2.90 %. The disinflation process remains well on track. The latest ECB staff macroeconomic projections closely align with the previous inflation outlook. In view of trade and geopolitical uncertainty, growth projections have again been marked down. The Governing Council judges its monetary policy to be significantly less restrictive as a result of the interest rate cuts.

Against the backdrop of growing uncertainty, the Governing Council reaffirms its data-dependent approach.

The Governing Council decides to lower the three key ECB interest rates by a further 25 basis points. The interest rate on the deposit facility now stands at 2.25 %, while the interest rate on the main refinancing operations is 2.40 % and the interest rate on the marginal lending facility is 2.65 %. The disinflation process remains well on track and is progressing in line with the Governing Council’s expectations. However, the economic outlook is likely to deteriorate in view of rising trade tensions and exceptionally high uncertainty. At the same time, the heightened uncertainty will probably have a tightening impact on financing conditions.

The Governing Council considers the current uncertainty to be exceptionally high and thus reaffirms its data-dependent approach.

The Governing Council decides to lower the three key ECB interest rates by another 25 basis points. The interest rate on the deposit facility now stands at 2.00 %, while the interest rate on the main refinancing operations is 2.15 % and the interest rate on the marginal lending facility is 2.40 %. According to the latest Eurosystem staff macroeconomic projections, inflation is expected to decline further. Earlier concerns that the heightened uncertainty would have a tightening impact on financing conditions have eased.

Against the backdrop of high uncertainty, the staff use illustrative scenarios to assess the impact of different trade policy measures on inflation. These show that an escalation of trade tensions would dampen inflation. A benign resolution to trade tensions would lead to slightly higher inflation.

The Governing Council announces changes to its monetary policy strategy. It judges that the symmetric inflation target of 2 % has proved its worth, and the medium-term horizon of the inflation target is reaffirmed. The firm anchoring of inflation expectations remains a key aspect in operationalising the target’s medium-term orientation. 

In order to ensure price stability, the revised strategy emphasises the importance of forceful or persistent monetary policy measures in response to large, sustained deviations of inflation from the target in either direction. Given the high level of uncertainty, the monetary policy measures to be taken have to be agile and flexible in order to enable a timely and appropriate response to changes in the inflation environment. 

In future, risks and uncertainty should be taken into account in monetary policy decisions in a systematic and context-specific manner. The Eurosystem underlines, amongst other things, the importance of scenario and sensitivity analyses to this end.

Following a series of interest rate cuts, the Governing Council keeps the three key ECB interest rates unchanged in July. Inflation is at the 2 % medium-term target. The incoming information is broadly in line with the Governing Council’s previous assessment of the inflation outlook. Domestic price pressures have continued to ease, and the economy has so far proved resilient overall.

The Governing Council is determined to ensure that inflation stabilises at its 2 % target in the medium term. In its monetary policy communication, it continues to follow a data-dependent approach without emphasising the state of heightened uncertainty.

The Governing Council decides to keep the three key ECB interest rates unchanged. Inflation is close to the 2 % medium-term target and the Governing Council’s assessment of the inflation outlook is broadly unchanged. According to the ECB staff projections prepared in September, the inflation picture is largely in line with previous assessments. The economy is projected to grow somewhat more strongly than previously anticipated. 

The Governing Council again decides to keep the three key ECB interest rates unchanged. Inflation remains close to the 2 % medium-term target. The Governing Council’s assessment of the inflation outlook remains broadly unchanged. 

The Governing Council keeps the three key ECB interest rates unchanged. It judges that inflation should stabilise at the 2 % target in the medium term. According to the latest Eurosystem staff projections, the inflation picture is broadly in line with previous assessments. The economic outlook has improved slightly.