Frankfurt (dpa) - The European Central Bank cut a key interest rate on Thursday as part of its campaign to fuel inflation in the eurozone and fire up growth amid an uncertain economic outlook.The Frankfurt-based bank said it cut its deposit rates by 10 basis points, but left its benchmark refinancing rate on hold at at an historic low of 0.05 per cent.The financial markets focus is now on ECB chief Mario Draghi‘s press conference, set down for later on Thursday, where he is expected to outline plans for boosting the bank‘s quantitative easing scheme.Launched in March, the bank‘s quantitative easing programme, which includes spending 60 billion euros (63.2 billion dollars) a month on buying bonds, is currently due to end in September.The ECB last lowered the deposit rate, the interest rate the ECB charges banks for parking funds at the ECB, driving the rate deeper into negative territory to minus 0.2 per cent in September last year.By cutting the deposit rate to minus 0.3 per cent, the ECB hopes to force financial houses to stop massing funds at the ECB and instead pump more money into the eurozone‘s hard-pressed financial system by expanding their lending to businesses and households.The refinancing rate is the rate at which the ECB lends money to commercial financial institutions such as banks and consequently helps to set financial market rates.
