Overview
The meeting at which the European Central Bank's Governing Council sets monetary policy. Held eight times a year, it decides the three key ECB rates — the main refinancing, deposit facility, and marginal lending rates. The most important event for the euro area's monetary policy, followed by the President's press conference.
Meeting summary （published 2026-08-27）
At its meeting of 22-23 July 2026, the Governing Council decided to keep the three key ECB interest rates unchanged. The outlook for energy prices remains highly uncertain and well above pre-conflict levels. Inflation expectations over shorter horizons remained at elevated levels, but most longer-term inflation expectations stood at around 2%, supporting inflation stabilisation at the 2% target. Wage data showed signs of easing with forward-looking indicators pointing to moderating labour cost pressures. Firms appeared to absorb increases in non-labour input costs more extensively than labour costs, suggesting a low likelihood of second-round effects. Despite repeated shocks, monetary policy transmission remained orderly. The Governing Council will follow a data-dependent and meeting-by-meeting approach to determining the appropriate monetary policy stance.