UNENF

MILAN (Reuters) – Euro zone’s current level of interest rates is appropriate for growth and inflation, European Central Bank Executive Board member Lorenzo Bini Smaghi said in an interview with Il Sole 24 Ore published on Saturday.

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – The European Central Bank kept interest rates at a record low of 1.0 percent at its meeting on Thursday and extended its liquidity safety net for vulnerable euro zone banks into next year.

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – The following are comments by European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet at a news conference held after the bank’s Governing Council kept interest rates at a record low of 1 percent on Thursday.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Euro zone inflation slowed in August, pointing to steady interest rates well into 2011, but unemployment remains high and uneven across the region, underlining the two-speed recovery, data showed on Tuesday.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Euro zone inflation slowed in August, pointing to steady interest rates well into 2011, but unemployment remains high and uneven across the region, underlining the two-speed recovery, data showed on Tuesday.

A leading business group has called on the Bank of England to hold interest rates steady as it argues growth stalling would be worse for the recovery than rising inflation.

JACKSON HOLE, Wyoming (Reuters) – A top Bank of England policy-maker said on Saturday securities buying is an effective central bank instrument for easing financial conditions in a crisis but short-term interest rates should be the tool of choice in normal times.

LONDON (Reuters) – A fall in euro zone long-dated rates, which has seen curves flatten sharply, has further to run as investors are forced to lock in longer-maturity returns in the face of a deteriorating global economic outlook.

BEIJING (Reuters) – China is unlikely to raise interest rates soon and is more likely to cut than raise banks’ required reserves as Beijing aims to prevent a further slowdown in economic growth, former central bank adviser Li Yang said in remarks published on Monday.

Nearly seven people in 10 want the Government to impose a cap on the interest rates that can be charged by credit companies, a poll suggests.

Nearly seven people in 10 want the Government to impose a cap on the interest rates that can be charged by credit companies, a poll suggests.

AXEL WEBER (GERMANY) – (Reuters) – The European Central Bank kept interest rates on hold at 1.0 percent in its policy meeting on August 5 and is expected to leave them there well into next year.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. mortgage applications leaped last week as rock-bottom interest rates lifted demand for home refinancing to its highest level in 15 months, a development that could portend stronger economic growth.

LONDON (Reuters) – A weaker euro and lower interest rates will keep Germany’s exporter-heavy DAX ahead of other major share indexes and help it shake off signs of a slower U.S. recovery and a cooling in the Chinese economy.

LONDON (AFP) – Bank of England policymakers voted 8-1 earlier this month to hold interest rates at a record low but one member called again for a quarter-point hike, minutes from their last meeting showed Wednesday.