Europe Cuts Rates Less Than Expected to 1.25%

Economists, markets had hoped for 50-point cut
By Jason Farago,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 2, 2009 7:18 AM CDT
Europe Cuts Rates Less Than Expected to 1.25%
Jean-Claude Trichet, President of the European Central Bank ECB addresses the media during a news conference in Frankfurt, central Germany, on Thursday, March 5, 2009.   (AP Photo/Daniel Roland)

The European Central Bank cut interest rates today by 25 basis points, less than expected, to 1.25%. Economists had widely expected a cut double that size, reports the Financial Times, and financial markets soared on the news this morning. The ECB has been more hesitant to cut rates than central banks in the US, Britain, and Japan; bank president Jean-Claude Trichet has said that zero interest rates would be dangerous.
(More interest rate cut stories.)

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