The European Central Bank has left its leadinginterest rates unchanged following today's governing council meeting in Dublin.
The meeting was only the third time the influential interest rate-setting council has met outside its Frankfurt headquarters.
Despite disappointing economic data from Germany - the euro zone's biggest economy - earlier this week, the ECB leftits base lending rate unchanged at 4.5 per cent.
The ECB has come under sustained criticism from much of the media as well as the markets for the perceived lack of clarity in its actions.
It came under fire earlier this year when it was seen to be reluctant to cut euro zone interest rates despite evidence the euro zone was being hit by the rapidly slowing US economy.
The ECB has stuck by its mandate of sustaining inflation across the euro zone at 2 per cent through the implementation of monetary policy.