ECB keeps interest rates unchanged

The European Central Bank (ECB) on Thursday reaffirmed its monetary policy stance to maintain key interest rates for the euro area at present levels for an extended period of time, as most analysts expected.

At the ECB governing council meeting, it was decided that the eurozone base interest rate will remain at 0.00 percent, with the marginal lending rate and deposit rate remaining at 0.25 percent and minus 0.40 percent respectively, according to the central bank.

As the euro reached record levels against the U.S. dollar in more than three years, many analysts expected a stronger currency would prompt ECB president Mario Draghi to take steps to weaken it.

Draghi reinstated his warning that euro volatility creates uncertainty.

"The recent volatility in the exchange rate represents a source of uncertainty which requires monitoring with regard to its possible implications for the medium-term outlook for price stability," he said, adding the exchange rate was not the target of ECB monetary policy.

The euro surged to its new highs against the U.S. dollar on Thursday following Draghi's speech.

The ECB president stated that the ECB's loose monetary policy preserved favorable financing conditions that are still needed.

The ECB reaffirmed its decision at the last governing council meeting to make net asset purchases of 30 billion euros (37.43 billion U.S. dollars) from January until the end of September 2018, or beyond if necessary.

In the meantime, the Eurosystem (monetary authority of the eurozone) will reinvest principal payments from maturing securities purchased under the asset purchase program for an extended period of time after the end of its net asset purchases, and for as long as necessary.

In December, the ECB raised the eurozone's GDP growth outlook for 2017 to 2.4 percent from 2.2 percent, for 2018 to 2.3 percent from 1.8 percent.