ECB seen on hold despite recession risks doubling – Reuters Poll

According to the latest Reuters poll, the European Central Bank (ECB) is not expected to follow the Federal Reserve in cutting interest rates to soften the economic threat from the coronavirus outbreak. Given that the ECB deposit rate is already at -0.50%, the results underscored the central bank's limited policy options.

The survey also concluded the ECB will keep the deposit rate on hold until at least the end of 2022, even though the median chances of a eurozone recession have doubled in the last month.

The poll results contrast with market expectations of a roughly 90% chance of a deposit rate cut at the March meeting. This might further fuel the recent bullish witnessed in the EUR/USD pair, which was last seen holding steady near YTD tops, just below mid-1.1200s.