FRANKFURT, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- The European Central Bank (ECB) on Thursday decided to leave key interest rates unchanged at its first monetary policy meeting of 2026, marking the fifth consecutive hold since July 2025.

Photo taken on July 7, 2022 shows the headquarter of the European Central Bank in Frankfurt, Germany. (File photo: Xinhua)

The deposit facility rate, the primary tool used by the ECB to steer monetary policy, remains unchanged at 2 percent and hence the rates on the main refinancing operations and the marginal lending facility stay at 2.15 percent and 2.4 percent respectively.

The central bank reconfirmed in a statement that the inflation outlook remains stable and economy has been resilient.

The ECB has reiterated that it will stick to its data-dependent and meeting-by-meeting approach to determine its future monetary policy stance.