ECB prepares to launch fresh tools to battle low inflation

``Analysts expect the ECB to introduce a negative deposit rate, meaning the central bank would charge lenders to hold money with it overnight. Such a measure has never been introduced by a major central bank, although Sweden and Denmark have set negative rates on reserves... The ECB is also expected to cut its main interest rate to 0.15pc, from 0.25pc. "We are ready to act," Vitor Constancio, the ECB's vice president, said on Friday. "We are not complacent about the risks from a protracted period of low inflation."''