JPM JP Morgan Chase and Co

The European Central Bank left all its interest rates unchanged at its rate call Thursday, matching economists' expectations.

The central bank said it had started to expand the monthly purchases under its asset-purchase program to €80 billion ($90.8 billion). The central bank had announced this change at its previous meeting in March.

"The focus is now on the implementation of the additional nonstandard measures decided on 10 March 2016," the ECB said in its rate announcement. It said further information on its corporate bond purchase program, also announced last month, would be released after the ECB's news conference that is due to start at 12:30 GMT.

The ECB's decision follows dramatic moves by the central bank last month, when it cut all its interest rates, increased the size and scope of its bond-buying program and offered loans to banks designed to encourage them to lend to firms and households. The ECB's main interest rate is at 0% and its deposit rate is minus 0.4%, meaning banks pay to park excess funds with the central bank.

The ECB's policy announcement comes as the eurozone continues to struggle to lift inflation in the currency bloc back to the central bank's medium-term target of just below 2%. The most recent data showed inflation unchanged on the year. At its March meeting, the ECB issued its staff forecast showing that inflation was due to be only 0.1% this year, rising to 1.6% in 2018.

Central bankers aim to avoid price falls, or deflation, over concerns that consumers will delay purchases in anticipation of lower prices. Such an environment can lower standards of living, while making it more burdensome to pay down debt. The ECB hopes that its far-reaching, accommodative policy measures can revive both inflation and economic growth in the eurozone.

Market attention will now turn to ECB President Mario Draghi's regular news conference. Economists expect the ECB to stress the effectiveness of the policies announced last month, while also leaving the door open to do more later.

Mr. Draghi will likely be pressed on what further measures the central bank could activate if inflation doesn't pick up sufficiently. One idea that has attracted significant attention recently is direct transfers from the central bank to individuals and firms, often known as "helicopter money."

At the last news conference in March, Mr. Draghi said that while the ECB hadn't discussed the idea, it was an "interesting concept." Since then, many Council members have played down the idea, but the topic will likely come up at the news conference.

The ECB has faced criticism over its policies. In unusually blunt comments about the central bank, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schä uble suggested its low-interest rate policy was partly to blame for the rise of an anti-immigrant party in Germany.

But even Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann, long a critic of Mr. Draghi, has backed the ECB chief. In Washington recently, Mr. Weidmann said the ECB's current "expansionary monetary policy is appropriate," because it is shaped for the eurozone as a whole where the economic outlook is different from Germany's.

Mr. Schaeuble has since tried to dilute his earlier critical comments. Last week he said that very low rates, or negative rates, create insecurity among Germans that "will be felt in elections." But, he said, "That's not the fault of the ECB."

Write to Todd Buell at todd.buell@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 21, 2016 08:25 ET (12:25 GMT)

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