The European Central Bank decided to keep the current zero interest rates unchanged, as expected, while announcing that it would announce an acceleration of the easing of quantitative easing.

According to the bank’s interest statement, the Russian invasion of Ukraine is a turning point for Europe and based on the bank’s assessment, the bank has revised the purchase schedule of the APP for the coming months, whereby net monthly purchases will reach 40 billion euros in April, 30 billion euros in May and 20 billion euros in June.

The net purchase program ends in the third quarter. The bank confirmed that any adjustments to the bank’s main interest rates will take place after some time has passed since the bank’s net purchases are ended, and will be gradual, with interest rates being written off from the phrase, which may be lower than current levels.

The euro is trading at 1.11 levels, rising after the initial statement, amid anticipation of the press conference of Bank President Lagarde, half an hour from now.