The European Central Bank held its key rates steady on Thursday but may have to consider fresh policy measures soon to prevent deflation amid market alarm over the economic fallout from China, analysts said.
ECB president Mario Draghi was scheduled to explain the reasoning behind the decision at his traditional post-meeting press conference.
Central bank watchers expected him to leave the door open to further monetary easing given signs that eurozone inflation is still much lower than the ECB would like.
“The decision ... To leave its policy stance unchanged was widely expected, but Draghi is likely to give some dovish signals,” said Capital Economics economist Jonathan loynes.
“Admittedly, the latest news on the eurozone economy has been reasonably upbeat ... (and) the Greek crisis has clearly eased somewhat after the approval of the third bailout.