FRANKFURT, Germany — The European Central Bank is sizing up the problems facing the 18-country eurozone before it decides whether to cut interest rates to support the anemic recovery, its president said Thursday.
Weak growth and an unexpected drop in inflation have raised concerns that the eurozone might slide into deflation, a sustained drop in prices that can cripple the economy. The eurozone is among the world's biggest economic blocs, and a slide into deflation would crimp global growth.
But the ECB's governing council left its interest rate benchmark unchanged at a record low of 0.25 percent at its meeting Thursday. Some analysts had thought it might cut the rate to 0.1 percent.