Draghi Cuts ECB Rates to Combat ‘Prolonged’ Inflation Weakness

The European Central Bank unexpectedly cut its benchmark interest rate to a record low in a bid to prevent slowing inflation from taking hold in a still-fragile euro-area economy.

With inflation at the weakest level in four years and less than half the ECB’s target, the Frankfurt-based bank halved its key refinancing rate to 0.25 percent in a shift anticipated by just three of 70 economists in a Bloomberg News survey.