ECB holds rates at 1.5% for third month

The European Central Bank has held rates at 1.5% despite mounting pressure on policymakers to resolve the sovereign debt crisis.

Benchmark rates were kept at 1.5% for the third month, after a hike from 1.25% in July in an attempt to cool inflation, which hit 3% last month. ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet, who steps down from his post on 31 October, told a news conference the economy faces serious pressures. "The economic outlook remains subject to particularly high uncertainty and intensified downside risks," he said. Some economists expect his successor, former Bank of Italy governor Mario Draghi, to take steps to ease borrowing costs next month, the Guardian reports. The news comes as eurozone leaders...