ECB holds rates, focuses on rollout of bond-buy plan
The decision to leave the cost of borrowing at record lows was widely expected after the ECB cut rates to rock-bottom levels last September and the bank's president, Mario Draghi, then said they had hit "the lower bound".
At Thursday's meeting held in Cyprus, the ECB left its main refinancing rate, which determines the cost of credit in the economy, at 0.05 percent.
It also kept the rate on bank overnight deposits at -0.20 percent, which means banks pay to park funds at the central bank, and held its marginal lending facility - or emergency overnight borrowing rate for banks - at 0.30 percent.
Markets now turn their attention to Draghi's 8.30 a.m. ET news conference, with investors looking for more details on the ECB's program of money printing to buy sovereign bonds - so-called quantitative easing (QE). The plan is due to begin this month.
(Writing by Paul Carrel Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)