The European Central bank is expected to hold interest rates steady again this week with inflation under control and US tariff tensions easing, even as France’s political crisis presents a new headache.

It would mark the second straight meeting in which the central bank for the 20 countries that use the euro keeps its key deposit rate on hold at two percent.

The pause follows more than a year of cuts as the ECB pivoted from tackling a surge in inflation to seeking to support the beleaguered eurozone.

Inflation has stabilised in the bloc, hovering around the central bank’s two-percent target in recent months.

“Any change in policy rates would be a big surprise,” analysts at HSBC said in a note on Thursday’s meeting.

In the United States, meanwhile, the Federal Reserve is widely expecte

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