ECB leaves key interest rates unchanged

(ANSA) - Naples, October 2 - The European Central Bank (ECB) on Thursday left its key interest rates unchanged at record lows.
    The ECB held its main refinancing rate at 0.05% and its deposit rate at -0.20, meaning that commercial banks must pay to leave funds at the central bank.
    The ECB cut rates to those unusually low levels last month as part of an effort to push banks to lend more to clients and to boost lackluster economic growth across the eurozone.
    ECB President Mario Draghi also started a new targeted lending program, announced in June and designed to lend billions of euros in inexpensive loans to retail banks.
    The ECB's governing council met in Naples amid anti-austerity protests.
    The central bank meets twice per year outside of its headquarters in Frankfurt.