Brussels: The European Central Bank (ECB) kept interest rates unchanged Thursday, after cutting them eight times in a year, as Brussels and Washington negotiate a trade agreement.

According to Qatar News Agency, the ECB said in a statement that the Governing Council agreed to keep the interest rate on its borrowing facility (its main interest rate) at 2 percent. The ECB also kept the interest rates on its primary refinancing operations and its marginal lending facility (MLF) at 2.15 percent and 2.4 percent, respectively.

The ECB explained that recent economic data are largely in line with its previous assessment of the inflation trajectory, indicating continued subdued domestic inflationary pressures, with wage growth slowing. The statement indicated that the European economy continues to show relative resilience in the face of a challenging global environment, partly reflecting the impact of previous interest rate cuts.

The European Central Bank (ECB) cut its interest rate to 2 percent last June, from 4 percent a year earlier, after taming the sharp rise in prices that followed the end of the COVID-19 pandemic and the start of Russia's military operation in Ukraine on February 24, 2022, which continues to this day.