FT reports the ECB has left rates unchanged

Early release from the FT

Here's the full text:

The European Central Bank has left interest rates unchanged, dashing expectations of a cut to its deposit rate.

Policymakers on the governing council left the deposit rate, which applies to a portion of banks' reserves parked at central banks across the currency area, at minus 0.2 per cent.

Markets had priced in a cut of between 0.1 and 0.2 percentage points.

The main refinancing rate remained at 0.05 per cent.

Easing from the central bank could come later this afternoon, however, when ECB president Mario Draghi looks set to unveil a beefed-up version of the €1.1tn quantitative easing package shortly after 1.30pm UK time.

The governing council has three options to alter the dimensions of QE.

First, policymakers could extend the timeline for monthly purchases beyond the current end-date of September 2016. Second is the option to raise monthly purchases from the current level of €60bn. Finally, the council could expand the range of assets eurozone central bankers are allowed to buy beyond government bonds and loans repackaged either as asset-backed securities or covered bonds.

The ECB will also publish its latest staff projections for growth and inflation.

The most recent forecasts, published in September, were for inflation of 0.1 per cent this year, 1.1 per cent in 2016 and 1.7 per cent in 2017. For growth, the ECB staff expected 1.4 per cent this year, 1.7 per cent in 2016 and 1.8 per cent in 2017.

Update: The story was wrong. The ECB cuts deposit rate by 10bp The FT must have canned a few stories an inadvertently published this one.

What a fiasco.

Update 2:

Go right ahead and ignore that tweet, the FT says.