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Fri 10 Oct 2008Case building for ECB rate cut
The ECB may be slow to relax monetary policy, but when it gets going, it can move with speed, writes Jim O'Leary
THE BEHAVIOUR of the European Central Bank (ECB) since the global financial crisis began last August has been remarkable. The US Fed has reduced interest rates repeatedly and by a cumulative 3.25 percentage points while the Bank of England has cut base rates by 0.75 of a point. The ECB, by contrast, has not only refused to reduce its interest rates, but amazed observers by hiking them by a quarter-point at its meeting of July 9th.
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