Here comes the ECB...

The European Central Bank will present the conclusions of the first meeting of its Governing Council in 2017 later on Thursday.

The bank will announce the decisions reached at its January meeting at 12.45 p.m. GMT (1.45 p.m. CET; 7.45 a.m. ET) with President Mario Draghi speaking at his customary press conference 45 minutes later.

As it stands, the ECB's base interest rate stands at 0%, while its deposit rate is -0.4%.

Its current quantitative easing programme is set at €80 billion per month and is scheduled to be extended until December, but at a decreased rate of €60 billion from March. That decision was announced at the final meeting of 2016 in December.

The ECB is all but certain to leave current monetary policy in place and maintain a promise for a lengthy period of continued stimulus.

Key to January's meeting will likely be questions about the necessity of extended stimulus given the recent acceleration of growth and inflation in the eurozone. Draghi's press conference will be closely watched.

The bank is likely to note that much of that recovery has been driven by its policies and flag political risks from elections in Germany, France, and the Netherlands coming up this year.

Refresh this page after 12.45 p.m. GMT (1.45 p.m. CET; 7.45 a.m. ET) for more.