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Eurozone interest rates held

europeInterest rates are to remain at the record low of 0.25% in the eurozone.

The European Central Bank has kept the rates unchanged since November 2013 when the ECB said it expected "a prolonged period of low inflation".

Inflation appears to have fallen to a five-year low in March to 0.5%, against the ECB’s target of 2%. The ECB’s president has said that anything below 1% is “the danger zone.”

Low inflation, while friendly to a household budget, could endanger the eurozone’s fragile recovery because consumers might well put off purchases in the hopes that prices will come down further.

Low inflation also makes it more difficult for governments and businesses to repay their debts.

Some analysts believe that the ECB may eventually begin a programme of quantitative easing as has been done in the UK, the US and Japan. This would amount to pumping money into the economy to stimulate growth and stave off a period of deflation.

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