FRANKFURT, June 10 (Xinhua) -- The European Central Bank (ECB) said on Thursday that it will keep the euro area key interest rates unchanged and will continue buying bonds under its Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme (PEPP) at a "significantly higher pace" over the coming quarter than in the first months of this year.

Eurozone key interest rates will remain at record low levels, with the base interest rate, marginal lending rate and deposit rate unchanged at 0.00 percent, 0.25 percent and minus 0.50 percent, respectively, the ECB said in a statement.

The central bank also said that "the Governing Council expects net purchases under the PEPP over the coming quarter to continue to be conducted at a significantly higher pace than during the first months of the year," echoing the decision in March to pick up the pace of bond buying to ease worries over rising bond yields.

The PEPP, first rolled out in March last year to cushion the impact from the pandemic and expanded twice thereafter, has a total envelope of 1.85 trillion euros (2.25 trillion U.S. dollars) and is set to run until at least the end of March 2022.

The ECB said it will purchase "flexibly according to market conditions" and with a view to preventing "a tightening of financing conditions." Enditem

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