ECB may wait until September for next rate cut

The European Central Bank is not expected to draw a concrete roadmap at its meeting today. The European Central Bank (ECB) will announce its interest rate decision today at 15:15 Turkish time. All economists participating in the Bloomberg survey expect the main refinancing rate, marginal lending rate and deposit rate to remain unchanged. The ECB made the first interest rate cut it had been indicating for a long time after the tightening cycle at its June meeting, lowering the deposit rate by a quarter point to 3.75%. However, it is not expected to take any steps or draw a concrete roadmap regarding the path of interest rates at today's meeting without seeing the critical data to be announced in the coming weeks. This causes all eyes to turn to the next meeting to be held in September after two inflation data, wage and productivity data. Economists expect another 25 basis point interest rate cut at the September meeting. “Recent increases in wages per employee, the ECB’s official time series of negotiated wages and services inflation have left the Governing Council reluctant to cut rates again without more data confirming that cost pressures are easing. That would lead it to keep rates on hold in July, but a slowdown would pave the way for a new move in September,” said David Powell, Bloomberg’s senior eurozone economist. ECB President Christine Lagarde will hold a press conference at 15:45 GMT.