ECB leaves rates unchanged as Draghi bows out

QE to restart on 1 November

The European Central Bank (ECB) held interest rates unchanged as it prepares to reignite its quantitative easing (QE) programme at Mario Draghi's final policy meeting after eight years at the bank’s helm.

Thursday's (24 October) meeting saw the governing council of the ECB opt to keep its key interest rate at a continental all-time-low of -0.5%, while it announced QE will resume at a monthly rate of €20bn as of 1 November.   The ECB said it expects net purchases "to run for as long as necessary to reinforce the accommodative impact of its policy rates, and to end shortly before it starts raising the key ECB interest rates". Draghi leaves his post at the end of October as the first ever ECB president to leave the bank without having once raised interest rates. Artur Baluszynski, head...