ECB Governing Council Press Conference - 5 February 2026

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Our Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decides what monetary policy action to take. The MPC sets and announces policy eight times a year (roughly once every six weeks). In this video, the MPC discusses the decisions taken in February 2026 and answers questions from the press.

The Governing Council today decided to keep the three key ECB interest rates unchanged. Its updated assessment reconfirms that inflation should stabilise at its 2% target in the medium term. The economy remains resilient in a challenging global environment. Low unemployment, solid private sector balance sheets, the gradual rollout of public spending on defence and infrastructure and the supportive effects of the past interest rate cuts are underpinning growth. At the same time, the outlook is still uncertain, owing particularly to ongoing global trade policy uncertainty and geopolitical tensions. The Governing Council today decided to keep the three key ECB interest rates unchanged. Its updated assessment reconfirms that inflation should stabilise at its 2% target in the medium term. The economy remains resilient in a challenging global environment. Low unemployment, solid private sector balance sheets, the gradual rollout of public spending on defence and infrastructure and the supportive effects of the past interest rate cuts are underpinning growth. At the same time, the outlook is still uncertain, owing particularly to ongoing global trade policy uncertainty and geopolitical tensions. TRADERS KEEP ECB RATE BETS STEADY, PRICE 5BPS OF CUTS IN 2026 Just in | ECB Reports Gradual Decline of APP and PEPP Portfolios as Reinvestment of Maturing Securities Ceases. ECB holds interest rates at 2% after eurozone inflation drops in January The European Central Bank (ECB) has left interest rates on hold at 2%, as widely expected, after inflation in the eurozone came in at 1.7% in the year to January. This means rates across the eurozone have been paused for a fifth consecutive time, since June last year, since inflation slipped back to the bloc’s target. Economists still expect no change in the coming months from the ECB, which has predicted that inflation will average 1.9% in 2026 after hovering at 2.1% last year. However, Andrzej Szczepaniak, an analyst at Nomura, said he expects its next move to be an increase rather than a cut, although he expects rates to “remain on hold for the foreseeable future”. He forecasts unemployment in the eurozone to fall further, “adding to wage growth and inflationary pressures”. He predicted at least two quarter point increases in rates in 2028 to “bring inflation back to target”.