The European Central Bank cut its key interest rate once again as a stimulus for the eurozone, as growth stagnates due to customers’ worries over inflation and political turmoil in leading European economies like France and Germany.

French inflation was stable at the beginning of the year, figures showed Friday, a day after the European Central Bank again lowered its key interest rates amid a eurozone economy going nowhere fast.

Several members of the ECB’s Governing Council have already voiced such fears, stressing that the ECB should cut rates to a “neutral” level as quickly as possible. Deutsche Bank’s Mark Wall said in e-mailed comments that rates may “quite probably” end up below neutral by year-end.

Euro zone manufacturers are more worried about cheap imports from China than tariffs from the United States, a European Central Bank survey showed on Friday. Only half of the manufacturers contacted by the ECB in a regular poll thought their business in the euro area would be affected by U.

European Central Bank policymakers are likely breathing a sigh of relief that the new U.S. administration did not impose the blanket trade tariffs some had feared and a rate cut next week now seems like a done deal.

Following is the text of European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde's statement after the bank's policy meeting on Thursday:

In his first week as US President, Donald Trump’s crypto policies reportedly drew the attention of a European Central Bank official, encouraging the development of a digital euro.

The Czech National Bank is considering adding bitcoin to its reserves. It should, regardless of what the European Central Bank thinks about that.

- 08:15 (EU) ECB Interest Rate Decision: Expected to cut Key Rates by 25bps; Expected to cut Deposit Rate by 25bps to 2.75%; Expected to cut Main 7-Day Refinancing Rate by 25bps to 2.90%; Expected to cut Marginal Lending Facility by 25bps to 3.15%.

Major changes to U.S. monetary policy don’t happen overnight, but retail investors believe a Bitcoin (BTC) reserve under President Donald Trump could be an exception. A Stocktwits poll found that 68% of investors expect Trump to create a national Bitcoin reserve in 2025,

Energy prices have come down by 2.7 per cent over the 12 months to January, according to new data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).