Related Articles
Top Stories
May 27 2012 11:21
There's a price war raging between South Africa's cellphone networks after Cell C lowered the rates of its prepaid calls by more than 34%.
May 27 2012 13:09
The oversupply of golf estates has claimed another victim.
May 28 2012 07:53
The City of Cape Town has spent R175m running the Myciti bus service since the Soccer World Cup compared to an income of R35m, a report says.
Frankfurt - The European Central Bank and the Bank of England both left their benchmark interest rates unchanged Thursday under conflicting pressure from higher inflation and mounting concern about growth in Britain and in the countries that use the euro.
Speaking to reporters after the ECB left its interest rate unchanged at 4.25 percent, ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet warned that inflation - which reached 4.1 percent in the euro zone in July - would remain well above its preferred level of about 2 percent for some time.
But he also acknowledge worries about growth across the euro zone, an admission that helped push the euro to a seven-week low against the dollar to $1.5353.
He said information since the bank's July meeting showed growth figures for mid-2008 and the third quarter would be substantially weaker than in the first quarter, as the bank had previously forecast. The lower midyear growth levels would partially reflect a correction to strong first quarter growth as well as "volatility and turbulence," especially the price of oil and food and slower global expansion, he said.
The ECB last month moved to cool inflation by hiking borrowing costs for the first time in a year to 4.25 percent.
The Bank of England has left rates unchanged at 5 percent since April, when it reduced its benchmark figure by a quarter of a percentage point.
Trichet made no indication about future rate decisions, maintaining that the bank has no bias up or down but would do whatever it takes to keep inflation under control.
- AP