The European Central Bank (ECB) will announce its monetary policy decision on Thursday. Market participants anticipate no changes to the current policy, but policymakers continue paving the way towards interest rate cuts in June. The ECB has tightened rates to fight skyrocketing inflation in the pandemic aftermath, lifting the Main Refinancing Operations Rate to 4.50% and the Deposit Facility Rate to 4% from negative levels in little over a year. Beyond rates, the ECB is using other tools: the Asset Purchase Programme (APP) and the Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme (PEPP). The first one is being reduced ... (full story)