Sharjah24 – Reuters: The euro plunged to a two-year low against the U.S. dollar on Thursday as comments from European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde were viewed as a sign that the ECB was in no rush to raise interest rates, in contrast with an aggressive monetary policy tightening effort by the U.S. Federal Reserve.

The European single currency fell to $1.0758, the lowest level since April 2020. It was last down 0.53% at $1.0827.

Lagarde said there was no clear timeframe for when rates would start to rise, adding that it could be weeks or even several months after the end of the ECB's stimulus scheme.

"We'll deal with interest rates when we get there," she added.

The ECB on Thursday concluded its latest meeting with cautious steps to unwind support and avoided a hard schedule. It confirmed plans to cut bond purchases, commonly known as quantitative easing, this quarter, then end them at some point in the third quarter.

Against sterling, the euro slid to a one-month low and was last down 0.28% at 82.79 pence.