The European Central Bank left its interest rates unchanged as expected on Thursday after its regular council meeting.

The European Central Bank left its interest rates unchanged as expected on Thursday after its regular council meeting, but recent signs of strong economic growth have fuelled expectations of a hike later this year. The ECB said its minimum bid rate, the benchmark rate in its weekly refinancing auctions, remains at 4.25 percent. The rate on its marginal lending facility was kept at 5.25 percent and the rate on the deposit facility at 3.25 percent. Economists had expected no change in rates at Thursday’s meeting so soon after it raised rates by half a point on June 8. Speaking at the ECB’s regular press conference following the meeting of its central council, president Wim Duisenberg said the region’s economy still faced inflationary risks, despite the ECB’s last rate hike on June 8. But he said the overall economic environment remains positive, with growth in Europe remaining strong. “Recent data indicate that the euro area economy has continued to grow at a robust pace,” he said, adding that the region’s economy was well placed to withstand the effects of a slowdown in growth in the United States. The decision had little impact on financial markets, with European government bond yields steady and the euro little moved at $0.9560. But strong German industrial orders data for May, released earlier on Thursday, reinforced economists’ forecasts of another ECB rate rise some time after its August summer break.