In the past week we have seen the July/August round of the key central bank meetings get underway, with the European Central Bank (ECB) first up. As expected, its Governing Council kept interest rates unchanged. This means that the Deposit rate remains at 3.75% while the Refi rate stays at 4.25%. The ‘hold’ on rates in July follows the 25bps cut implemented in June to the ECB’s main interest rates. The rate cut in June represented the first change in six meetings, and followed on from the rate hiking cycle in 2022-23. The decision by the ECB to keep its policy rates unaltered this month was unanimous.