FRANKFURT, July 22 (Xinhua) -- The European Central Bank (ECB) said on Thursday that it decided to leave key interest rates unchanged and revised its forward guidance according to the new 2-percent symmetric inflation target.

The ECB Governing Council "expects the key ECB interest rates to remain at their present or lower levels until it sees inflation reaching two percent well ahead of the end of its projection horizon and durably for the rest of the projection horizon," the central bank said in a statement.

"This may also imply a transitory period in which inflation is moderately above target," it added.

Earlier this month, the ECB approved a new monetary policy strategy that adopts the symmetric 2-percent inflation target over the medium term, following an 18-month strategy review.

The ECB said on Thursday that the tweak of the forward guidance was meant "to underline its commitment to maintain a persistently accommodative monetary policy stance to meet its inflation target."

According to the latest decisions, 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 also decided to keep stimulus unchanged, saying that it continues to expect purchases under the pandemic emergency purchase program over the current quarter to be conducted at a significantly higher pace than during the first months of the year. Enditem

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