ECB cuts rates to two percent

January 15, 2009

The European Central Bank cuts interest rates for the fourth month running, lowering them by fifty basis points to two percent. While this level matches the lowest in the ECB's ten-year history, it's nowhere near the borrowing costs in the United States and Japan, which are near to zero, and with the Bank of England seen to be heading in the same direction. The cut comes amid more bad news from the banking sector in Europe and the United States and economic data pointing to a deepening recession in the 16-member euro zone. Joanna Partridge reports for Reuters