ECB: Has no plans to change rates soon

The European Central Bank has no intention of altering eurozone interest rates for the time being, as economic conditions remain weak, executive board member Benoit Coeure said on Tuesday. "Let me state quite clearly that I do not intend to drop any hints about a change in the monetary policy stance in the euro area in the near future," Coeure told an investors' conference in London. "A reversal would not be warranted by current economic conditions," he said. A copy of his speech was made available by the ECB in Frankfurt. Area-wide economic growth was projected to remain weak this year and inflation was expected to remain clearly below 2.0 percent. "The various non-standard measures that have been introduced by the ECB to support monetary policy transmission in certain market segments will stay in place as long as necessary, and there are other measures, standard and non-standard, that we can deploy if warranted," Coeure said. "Therefore, at the current juncture, there should be no doubts that our 'exit' is distant and our monetary policy is and will remain accommodative," he said. At its regular policy meeting earlier this month, the ECB held its key rate unchanged at its current record low of 0.50 percent, and president Mario Draghi insisted the bank stood "ready to act" to give the eurozone's economy a much-needed shot in the arm.