The European Central Bank is expected Thursday to cut its economic growth projections for the eurozone next year as investors watch for signs of a rate cut in the embattled 17-member currency bloc, dpa reported. Analysts are not expecting the Frankfurt-based ECB to announce Thursday any major changes to monetary policy, with the bank widely predicted to leave borrowing costs on hold at an historic low of 0.75 per cent. But concerns that the eurozone could lurch deeper into recession in the coming months have once again helped to fuel market talk that the ECB will be forced to cut rates later next year. Investors are likely to be focused on the ECB's so-called staff growth and inflation projections, which ECB President Mario Draghi is to release at his press conference following what will be the bank's last rate-setting meeting of 2012. Analysts are expecting the ECB to revise down its growth outlook for next year after the eurozone slumped into recession during the third quarter. The ECB's projections are also likely to point to annual inflation in 2013 edging down below the bank's annual target of 2 per cent after official figures released Friday showed consumer prices sliding to a 23-month low of 2.2 per cent in November.
