ECB says rates on hold 'at least' through first half of 2020

The European Central Bank pushed back on expectations for the first hike in official short-term interest rates, saying they would remain at their present level "at least" through the front half of 2020.

Previously, the Governing Council had guided towards rates remaining on hold "at least through the end of 2019".

Regarding its upcoming third programme of bank loans, known as targeted long-term refinance operations, the ECB said that interest rates would be set 10 basis points above the average rate applied in the Eurosystem’s main refinancing operations over the life of the respective TLTRO.

When a lender's eligible net lending exceeded a benchmark, the rate under the TLTRO III would be lower, with a floor of the average interest rate on the deposit facility prevailing over the life of the operation plus 10 basis points.

The interest rates on the central bank's main refinancing operations and for its marginal lending and deposit facilities were kept at 0.00%, 0.25% and -0.40%, respectively, all as expected.

As before, the ECB said it would continue reinvesting, in full, the principal payments from the maturing securities in its portfolio which had been purchased under its asset purchase programme "for an extended period" after its first interest rate hike.

ECB chief Mario Draghi's presser was scheduled for 1330 BST.