The European Central Bank (ECB) has announced a 0.25% cut in its main interest rate. The move was announced at a meeting of the ECB in Slovakia.
It brings rates to a historic low of 0.5%.
It is the first time the ECB has cut interest rates in 10 months. It was also widely expected after ECB President Mario Draghi said last month the bank stood ready to act.
400,000 Tracker mortgage customers in Ireland will benefit. Experts say the cut is worth €15 a month for every €100,000 owed.
Peter O'Flanagan is Head of Trading at Clear Currency. "Mario Draghi has stood by his word from April's ECB meeting when he said he was ready to act if the Eurozone's economic conditions continued to worsen" he said.
He added that "There remains a serious question mark over the effectiveness of the ECB's move. Confidence needs to be restored and a small cut is a case of Frankfurt fiddling whilst Rome, Dublin and the rest of Europe is burning".
"The ECB needs to bite the bullet and override a non-functioning banking system to restore confidence and get lending flowing to SMEs. In other words the ECB should consider non-standard measures like printing money or buying bonds and, like the US Federal Reserve and Bank of England, make a firm intervention to restore growth" he concluded.
Watch comments by Mr. Draghi LIVE below:
