Euro area interest rates stay at 2.50% in October 2026

The ECB left its deposit rate at 2.50% on 29 October 2026 and said financing conditions have tightened, so euro area borrowing costs are not falling.

The facts

The ECB Governing Council left the deposit facility rate at 2.50% on 29 October 2026, with the main refinancing rate at 2.65% and the marginal lending rate at 2.90%.
The press release states that energy prices have continued to rise, posing upside risks to the inflation outlook and downside risks to growth.
Underlying inflation has remained broadly stable so far, and wages do not show a material response at this stage.
Financing conditions have also tightened, according to the same release.
The Governing Council is not pre-committing to a particular rate path and will decide meeting by meeting.
The APP and PEPP portfolios are declining at a measured and predictable pace, and the Eurosystem no longer reinvests principal from maturing securities.

Borrowing costs for a euro area purchase are not falling. The deposit rate held at 2.50% and the ECB says financing conditions tightened.
Tracker mortgages and new fixed offers across the single currency area are priced off a policy rate that did not move this month.
An owner already holding euro area property cannot budget a 2027 refinancing at a lower rate, because the Governing Council refuses to signal a path.
Energy-driven inflation sits on the cost side of a rental business as well as the index side, through service charges, heating and maintenance.

The next monetary policy decision, taken without any rate path announced in advance.
Energy prices, named in the release as the source of the upside risk to inflation.
The release carries no numeric inflation or growth figure and no effective date for the rates.

Sources: European Central Bank https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/pr/date/2026/html/ecb.mp261029~9a493adf17.en.html