The European Central Bank cut interest rates last month to avert unnecessary damage to the economy, with policymakers taking the view they could pause a December cut if activity picked up, minutes of the meeting show.
The central bank’s governing council gave unanimous support to October’s decision to cut rates by 0.25 percentage points to 3.25 per cent, arguing that “the disinflationary trend was getting stronger” and that it was important to avoid “harming the real economy by more than was necessary”.
The account, published on Thursday, suggests hawks on the council were convinced to back the decision by framing it as an exercise in “risk management” that could potentially offset the need to cut again, or by as much, at the December meeting if the outlook for Eurozone growth improved.