ECB makes its biggest ever rate cut

The European Central Bank delivered the biggest interest-rate cut in its 10-year history after the economic slump deepened and the inflation rate plunged.

ECB policymakers meeting in Brussels lowered the benchmark lending rate by 75 basis points to 2.5 percent. The Bank of England and Sweden's Riksbank lowered rates more aggressively than the ECB yesterday.

Central banks around the world are cutting borrowing costs by unprecedented amounts in a bid to contain the fallout from the financial crisis, which has already pushed the euro region into its worst recession in 15 years. Until yesterday, the ECB had restricted itself to two 50-point cuts, with President Jean-Claude Trichet stressing its role as an "anchor of stability".