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The European Central Bank left interest rates unchanged Thursday, hours after President Christine Lagarde said she would step down early. The humdrum rate decision belies the storm clouds building over her final months and the bevy of challenges her successor will inherit.

French bond markets are being rocked by volatility. Energy prices remain stubbornly high. And Lagarde’s departure will kick off one of the most significant leadership shake-ups in the central bank’s history, with jockeying to succeed her beginning in earnest on Thursday.

The rates on the deposit facility, the main refinancing operations and the marginal lending facility will remain unchanged at 2.50%, 2.65% and 2.90%, respectively.

The ECB Governing Council pointed out in a statement that energy prices continue to rise, thus creating upside risks to the inflation outlook, as well as downside risks to the growth outlook. The bank also noted that the full effects of the energy crisis are not yet readily apparent, but that underlying inflation remained broadly stable.

"The Governing Council remains well positioned to navigate the current elevated uncertainty. It will follow a data-dependent and meeting-by-meeting approach to determining the appropriate monetary policy stance," the bank concluded.