The European Central Bank (ECB) held interest rates steady in April, to the surprise of absolutely no-one. The ECB's benchmark interest rate is still 0.05%, and the deposit rate is -0.2%. It's less than three months since the ECB's big quantitative easing scheme was announced, and only a month since it actually began, so it's no real shock that there's no new action today. Mario Draghi gets up to speak to the press at 1:30 p.m. London time (9:30 a.m. New York) and we'll be covering that live here. Absurdly, after just one month in operation, some people are actually talking about whether the ECB will have to taper QE early. That's astonishing and probably a bit ridiculous, but the European rebound has been much faster and stronger than pretty much anyone expected. Draghi is likely to try to play down those suggestions — the ECB's current line is that the scheme will last until September 2016. Markets will also be listening closely for any comments on Greece's precarious situation. Click here for the latest on what's being said at the press conference.Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Here's an easy fat-burning circuit workout you can do using only a line
 |
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.businessinsider.com |
