Following a number of small cuts in interest rates which were already insufficient to boost Europe’s economy, the European Central Bank (ECB) has today announced it is freezing interest rates.
Esther Lynch, General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation, said:
“The ECB is wrong to cite trade disputes as a reason to freeze interest rates. In the face of US protectionism undermining foreign demand for European exports, the best reply is to revive domestic demand.
“The ECB could have played a key role in doing that by slashing interest rates, therefore incentivising the investment our economy desperately needs, as well as spending by workers.
“In freezing interest rates, the European Central Bank has abdicated its role in protecting our economy from trade wars which put people’s jobs and livelihoods on the line.”
