Greece casts shadow as ECB holds interest rates low

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The European Central Bank left interest rates unchanged on Wednesday, holding them at record lows as its money-printing scheme shows early signs of perking up the region's economy.

With bank lending picking up and falling prices starting to bottom out, President Mario Draghi will be able to claim an early success for the 60 billion euros-a-month money printing scheme it launched last month.

The main refinancing rate, which determines the cost of credit, is now just 0.05 percent, while the ECB's deposit rate, which means banks pay to park funds at the central bank and has the most influence on market rates, is -0.2 percent.

In a news conference at 1230 GMT, the focus will widen as journalists probe Draghi on ECB support for troubled Greece, whose reluctance to reform to unlock euro zone aid is casting a new pall uncertainty over the 19-country currency bloc.

ECB policymakers sanctioned further emergency funding for Greece's banks up to 74 billion euros, a banking source said, a reminder of the dire financial straits that the country is in.

Time is running out for Athens to improve a package of reforms required for the release of loans that it requires to stay afloat.

Were Greece, first bailed out in 2010 and again two years later, ultimately to tumble out of the euro, it would deal a blow to the credibility of the currency union.

For now though, the 1 trillion-euro-plus money printing scheme to buy chiefly government bonds is underpinning confidence and most predict Draghi will underscore his commitment to quantitative easing.

The QE program has already prompted a rise in the value of bonds and investors are questioning whether it could become too costly for the ECB to buy sufficient quantities in top-rated countries such as Germany.

One tweak to the program it is likely to make is to add some 10 debt-issuing national agencies to the list of those that qualify to sell the ECB bonds, said a person familiar with the issue. This would underline its determination.

Draghi is also likely to give a cautiously optimistic assessment of the euro zone's improving economic prospects, before he joins finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of 20 top economies at the International Monetary Fund's Spring meeting.

In its World Economic Outlook on Tuesday, the International Monetary Fund raised growth expectations for all the major economies in the bloc.

($1 = 0.9389 euros)

(Additional reporting by George Georgiopoulos in Athens; Editing by Robin Pomeroy and John Stonestreet)