European Central Bank expected to keep rates on hold as economy weathers Trump's tariffs

FRANKFURT – Inflation is back under control, and the European economy is weathering Trump's tariff onslaught better than expected. Those are reasons the European Central Bank is expected to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged Thursday.

Instead, attention will focus on what bank President Christine Lagarde will have to say about France's fiscal crisis — and any possible role for the ECB in containing potential market turmoil that could erupt from the country's out-of-control deficit and political logjam.

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The ECB is standing pat on interest rates even as the US Federal Reserve has held the door open for a possible cut at its Sept. 17 meeting.

The 20 countries that use the euro currency — and where the ECB sets rate policy — showed 0.1% growth in the second quar