At its meeting on 7 March 2024, the Governing Council decided to keep the three key ECB interest rates unchanged. Since its monetary policy meeting on 25 January 2024, inflation has declined further. In the March 2024 ECB staff macroeconomic projections for the euro area, inflation has been revised down, in particular for 2024 which mainly reflects a lower contribution from energy prices. Staff now project inflation to average 2.3% in 2024, 2.0% in 2025 and 1.9% in 2026. The projections for inflation excluding energy and food have also been revised down and average 2.6% for 2024, 2.1% for 2025 and 2.0% for 2026. ... (full story)