European Central Bank Not Cutting Interest Rates

Bond-purchase plan still expected

The European Central Bank refrained from cutting interest rates today as President Mario Draghi prepares to unveil a bond-purchase plan to save the euro.

Policy makers meeting in Frankfurt left the benchmark rate at a record low of 0.75 percent, as predicted by 28 of 58 economists in a Bloomberg survey. The remainder forecast a quarter-point cut. Investors are focused on Draghi's press conference at 2:30 p.m., when he may announce details of a plan to intervene in bond markets to help restore transmission of ECB interest rates.