Mubasher: The European Central Bank (ECB) on Thursday decided to leave its main interest rates unchanged.

The ECB’s interest rate on its main refinancing operations will be kept at 0.00% while the interest rate on its marginal lending facility will be left at 0.25%, with -0.40% interest on deposit facility, according to the central bank’s statement.

The interest rates are expected to remain at their current ultra-low levels at least through the end this year, the ECB’s governing council said.

Unexpectedly, the central bank decided to delay the first interest rate hike until next year.

In addition, the governing council would carry on its full re-investment, “the principal payments from maturing securities purchased under the asset purchase programme for an extended period of time past the date when it starts raising the key ECB interest rates,” the ECB said.

The ECB will also launch a new series of quarterly targeted longer-term refinancing operations, which will start next September and end in March 2021, each with a maturity of two years.

In reaction to the decision, the euro traded at a two-week low of $1.2975. By 1:17 pm GMT, the EUR/USD pair fell 0.33% to $1.1270.