Draghi Spared as Confidence Swing Quells Rate-Cut Talk

Mario Draghi might be spared from having to make the thorniest of interest-rate cuts.

Improving confidence indicators have eased pressure on the European Central Bank president to reduce the benchmark rate from a record low, a move fraught with the unknown consequences of possibly pushing the deposit rate below zero. While officials discussed a cut in borrowing costs last month, only five out of 55 economists in a Bloomberg survey predict that outcome today. The rest see the benchmark staying at a record-low 0.75 percent.