By Gokhan Ergocun
ISTANBUL (AA) – The European Central Bank (ECB) has kept its policy interest rates unchanged in its December meeting by saying the inflation is expected to fall gradually next year.
The bank decided to keep unchanged the main refinancing operations and the interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility at 4.50%, 4.75% and 4.00%, respectively, on Thursday.
"While inflation has dropped in recent months, it is likely to pick up again temporarily in the near term," it noted.
"According to the latest Eurosystem staff projections for the euro area, inflation is expected to decline gradually over the course of next year, before approaching the Governing Council’s 2% target in 2025," it said.
"While inflation has dropped in recent months, it is likely to pick up again temporarily in the near term," according to the report.
Inflation is expected to be 5.4% in 2023, 2.7% in 2024, 2.1% in 2025, and 1.9% in 2026, according to the bank's forecast.