FRANKFURT, Germany, Sept. 2 (UPI) -- The European Central Bank said Thursday it would keep its lending rate unchanged at 1 percent.

In a statement prepared for a news conference in Frankfurt, ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet said prices would remain stable as "inflation expectations remain firmly anchored" and in line with the target inflation rate of 2 percent.

The euro area's gross domestic product, however, is expected to grow between 1.4 percent and 1.8 percent this year and between 0.5 percent and 2.3 percent in 2011, he said.

Recent economic figures, while encouraging, were "partly owing to temporary factors," he said, referring to government interventions, including stimulus programs that are winding down.

Trichet, speaking for policymakers, said that overall euro-area output "has been expanding" since mid-2009 but "Nevertheless, uncertainty still prevails."