The European Central Bank (ECB) kept the reference interest rates, due to uncertainty about their movements due to unstable energy prices.
The ECB kept the discount rate at 2.25 percent, after increasing it by a quarter of a percentage point at the previous meeting, which was held on June 11.
That increase was supposed to soften the impact of higher oil prices on consumer prices, due to the war in Iran and complications in the Strait of Hormuz.
Experts estimate that the ECB could raise interest rates again at its September 10 meeting.
“Uncertainty remains high, and the full inflationary impact of the energy shock has yet to be felt. With today’s decision, the Governing Council remains in a good position to deal with the uncertainty caused by the conflict,” the ECB said in a statement.
The president of the ECB, Christine Lagarde, stated that the bank makes decisions from meeting to meeting, based on the received data, and that it has not committed itself to a specific course of interest rate movements, reports BHRT.
The price of the international reference crude oil “Brent” rose to $98 today, after the President of the United States of America, Donald Trump, declared on July 8 that the memorandum of understanding, which would work on a ceasefire with Iran, was “finished”.
That oil price was $76 before the collapse of the truce, while it was $73 before the war in Iran, which began on February 28.
The price of “Brent” oil rose this morning by four percent after Yemeni Houthi rebels, supported by Iran, attacked two Saudi Arabian tankers in the Red Sea, near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
