FRANKFURTtalkingnewsscratch, July 18 (Xinhua) -- The European Central Bank (ECB) on Thursday decided to leave key interest rates unchanged at its regular rate-setting meetingtalkingnewsscratch.

The interest rate on the main refinancing operations and the interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility will remain unchanged at 4.25 percent, 4.5 percent, and 3.75 percent respectively, announced the central bank in a statement.

While confirming that its previous assessment of the medium-term inflation outlook has been supported by fresh data, the ECB is poised to "keep policy rates sufficiently restrictive for as long as necessary."

Some measures of underlying inflation in May ticked up and price pressures remain high in the euro area. "Headline inflation is likely to remain above the target well into next year," said the ECB statement.

In a major policy shift, the ECB moved to cut interest rates by 25 basis points in June, its first rate cut since September 2019.

The central bank has reiterated that it is not pre-committing to a particular rate path, an indication that the scaling back of its restrictive monetary policy is not likely to be linear as price pressures remain high.■