ECB cuts key interest rate as economic worries mount

FRANKFURT — The European Central Bank's easing cycle reached the one-year mark on Thursday when policymakers delivered another interest rate cut as concerns mount about the struggling eurozone economy and global trade tensions.

The ECB cut its key deposit rate a quarter point to 2 percent, as widely expected — its seventh consecutive reduction and eighth since June last year when it began lowering borrowing costs.

It also lowered its inflation forecast for 2025, with consumer price increases now expected to hit the central bank's 2 percent target this year.