[by:www.21voa.com]
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[00:00.40]The European Central Bank released a new round of measures to stimulate the economy,
[00:07.96]including lowering interest rates more.
[00:12.64]The financial moves announced Thursday are the latest efforts
[00:17.00]to lift the economy of the 19-country bloc that uses the euro.
[00:23.80]The European Central Bank, or ECB,
[00:28.40]cut all three of its main interest rates.
[00:32.20]The bank also increased its monthly financial asset-buying program.
[00:38.44]Officials at the ECB hope banks will lend more money to businesses
[00:45.04]and consumers to help the region's economy.
[00:50.16]The eurozone economy has had low economic growth for many years.
[00:56.40]Growth was 0.3 percent in the last three months of 2015.
[01:03.56]The ECB's cuts to three main interest rates it controls take effect on March 16.
[01:12.40]The rate for deposits with the central bank was cut further to negative 0.4 percent.
[01:20.42]The negative interest rate means that depositors pay the bank instead of receiving interest payments.
[01:29.52]The unusual measure is meant to encourage banks to lend money
[01:34.80]rather than keep it with the central bank.
[01:39.32]The ECB also said it would increase the purchase of bonds
[01:44.64]from 60 billion euros each month to 80 billion euros.
[01:50.00]The move puts more money into financial institutions that hold the bonds,
[01:56.40]putting more money into the Eurozone economy.
[02:01.44]The measures are similar to tactics
[02:04.40]that the U.S. central bank used to boost the American economy
[02:09.60]during the 2008-2009 world financial crisis.
[02:15.64]Since then, the U.S. economy has recovered.
[02:20.68]The unemployment rate now stands at 4.9 percent.
[02:25.92]However, central bank policymakers are dissatisfied with economic growth.
[02:32.64]Many workers are still looking for better-paying,
[02:37.00]full-time jobs rather than the part-time work they accepted.
[02:42.80]However, slowing growth in China, the second-biggest global economy,
[02:49.08]is blamed for erratic stock market prices around the world.
[02:54.32]Chinese Premier Li Keqiang recently said
[02:58.88]China's expected economic growth will be between 6.5 and 7 percent.
[03:08.00]In the Eurozone, the jobless rate is down from its 2013 peak of 12.1 percent,
[03:16.68]but was still at 10.3 percent in January.
[03:21.12]European Central Bank president Mario Draghi
[03:25.92]said the bank's new measures show "that we are not out of ammunition."
[03:31.80]He said, "Rates will stay low, very low, for a long period of time
[03:37.96]and well past the horizon of our purchases" of assets.
[03:43.08]But he added, "Taking into account the support of our measures to growth and inflation,
[03:50.96]we don't anticipate that it will be necessary to reduce rates further."
[03:58.68]I'm Mario Ritter.