ECB Keeps Benchmark Rate at 0.75% as Yields Decline

The European Central Bank kept interest rates on hold after its pledge to buy government bonds lowered borrowing costs and boosted confidence that the euro area can emerge from recession next year.

Policy makers meeting in Frankfurt today left the benchmark rate at a record low of 0.75 percent, as predicted by 56 of 61 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. They also left the deposit rate at zero. ECB President Mario Draghi will hold a press conference at 2:30 p.m. to brief reporters on the decision and reveal new economic forecasts, including a first projection for 2014.