The European Central Bank kept interest rates steady today as expected after its president last week said the central bank had done its share to help Europe's sputtering economy.
The ECB said in a statement its policymaking council had decided to leave the benchmark interest rate unchanged at two per cent, an historic low reached after a half percentage point cut in early June.
The Bank of England in contrast surprised financial markets by cutting its key interest rate by a quarter percentage point to 3.5 per cent, citing a hesitant global economic recovery.
For the ECB, however, no change was widely expected after President Mr Wim Duisenberg told the European Parliament that it was now up to governments to push through reforms to boost growth and cut swollen jobless numbers.
He is expected to reinforce that message in a news conference to explain the rate decision later today.
Despite its tough talk on budgets, analysts say the central bank may be forced to lower borrowing costs again in the latter part of the year if an upswing remains illusive.
The central bank has lopped 1.25 percentage points off its benchmark rates in the last eight months, but signs that the economy in the single currency bloc is set to recover are scant, though inflation - the ECB's main concern - is fairly tame.
May industrial output for Germany, Europe's largest economy, was the latest set of data to highlight fragile growth in the 12-country monetary union, falling more sharply than expected by 0.2 per cent. With strikes likely to hit June output, Germany looks ever shakier.
While the ECB will be watching these conditions closely in the months ahead, Mr Duisenberg is expected to focus primarily on lecturing politicians for failing to cut budget deficits and push through market reforms needed to get their economies growing faster.
The top three euro zone economies - Germany, France and Italy - are planning tax cuts to help revive economies and risk breaking EU budget rules.