ECB left interest rate at 1.25 percent
05 May 2011
European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet signalled that euro zone interest rates are unlikely to rise next month but left the door firmly open for an increase in July. Trichet did not use the phrase "strong vigilance" at a news conference which followed the ECB's decision to leave rates at 1.25 percent. "We will continue to monitor very closely all developments with respect to upside risks to price stability," Trichet told the news conference. However, he said the ECB could move rates any time it saw fit. "We are never precommitted," he said, adding that the ECB's Governing Council had been unanimous in Thursday's decision to leave rates unchanged. Asked whether the fragility of the euro zone periphery was a factor in the ECB's rates decision, Trichet said: "Absolutely not. Our responsibility is for the price stability of the euro area as a whole."