FRANKFURT, Sept 11 (Reuters) - The European Central Bank left borrowing costs unchanged on Thursday and raised its growth forecast for this year on the back of a more resilient economy.
The ECB left the rate it pays on bank deposits at 2% for the second meeting in a row, after halving it in the space of a year as inflation fell towards its 2% target.
The central bank for the 20 countries that share the euro refrained from providing any indication about the future path for interest rates.
"The Governing Council...will follow a data-dependent and meeting-by-meeting approach to determining the appropriate monetary policy stance," the ECB said in a press release.
On top of the announced U.S. trade tariffs, the ECB has to reckon with a weakening labour market in the United States - the biggest customer for euro zone companies - and political and debt troubles in France, its second-biggest member economy.
Policymakers told Reuters before the meeting that conversations about a further rate cut were likely to resume in the autumn if U.S. import tariffs take a toll on euro zone growth.
On the upside, Germany's plan for more defence spending was expected to boost inflation and growth later on.
ECB President Christine Lagarde will hold a news conference at 1245 GMT.
With Thursday's decision, the ECB also left the rates that banks pay to borrow at its weekly and daily auctions unchanged at 2.15% and 2.40% respectively.
These facilities have been used very little in recent years as cash is abundant in the banking system, a legacy of the ECB's past stimulus programmes.
Reporting By Francesco Canepa; Editing by Catherine Evans
Source: Reuters