The ECB's governing council left its key rates and crisis-fighting stimulus programmes unchanged Thursday, a spokeswoman said, as the eurozone continues to battle the pandemic-induced downturn.

File photo: AFP

As expected, the Frankfurt institution held the rate on its main refinancing operations at zero, on its marginal lending facility at 0.25 percent and its deposit facility rate at -0.5 percent.

The bank also left its pandemic emergency bond-buying scheme worth 1.35 trillion euros ($1.6 trillion) unchanged.