The European Central Bank cut a key interest rate by 0.25 percent to a record low 0.75 percent to stimulate bank lending and spur economic growth, the regulator said on Thursday.

“The interest rate on the main refinancing operations of the Eurosystem will be decreased by 25 basis points to 0.75 percent, starting from the operation to be settled on 11 July 2012,” the regulator said in a statement.

The interest rate on the marginal lending facility will be cut by 25 basis points to 1.50 percen,t and the deposit facility rate will be cut by 25 basis points to 0.00 percent, the bank said.

The last time the ECB cut the refinancing rate was in December 2011, when the regulator lowered the rate by a quarter percentage point to a historic low of 1 percent.