ECB holds firm as calls grow for stimulus exit

The European Central Bank left key interest rates and its mass bond-buying programme unchanged Thursday, at its first meeting of a year when the Frankfurt institution could become a political punching bag. Most observers expected no change in course from the six board members and 19 eurozone central bank governors who sit on the ECB's Governing Council. With the economic consequences of Brexit and the US election of Donald Trump as yet unclear and a series of elections ahead for major eurozone m