INTEREST RATES AT ECB EXPECTED TO REMAIN ON HOLD.

The European Central Bank (ECB) is expected Thursday to leave interest rates on hold at their historic low of 1 per cent, but to raise its economic growth forecasts amid signs that the recession could be starting to draw to an end. In particular, this follows the release of figures Wednesday by the European Union’s statistics office Eurostat confirming that the eurozone’s two biggest economies - Germany and France - climbed out of recession in the second quarter.
The eurozone contracted by 0.1 per cent in the second quarter.
Up until now, the ECB has been projecting negative growth in the currency bloc through to the middle of 2010.
Economic growth would then return to a positive track in 2010, analysts predict the ECB staff projections to show.
The ECB’s latest growth forecasts, outlined in June, were much gloomier that decline of between 3.2-2.2 per cent, the bank predicted in March.