ECB Leaves Key Rate at Record Low 0.5 Pct The European Central Bank has left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at a record low of 0.5 percent. The bank's 23-member governing council decided at its monthly meeting in Frankfurt Thursday that the slowly recovering euro area economy didn't need a further stimulus. The 17 European Union member countries that used the euro emerged from recession in the second quarter. The economy grew 0.3 percent from the quarter before, breaking a string of 18 months of sliding output. At his news conference following the meeting, ECB President Mario Draghi is expected to underline that rates will stay low for an extended period. That is intended to boost business confidence that the ECB won't be scaling back its stimulus efforts until the recovery is on stronger footing.