FRANKFURT (AFP) - The European Central Bank kept its main interest rate at a record low point of 1.0 percent on Thursday, a spokesman said, but financial markets focused on worsening prospects for Greece. Details of a new policy on collateral that eurozone banks put up to get ECB funds were expected from president Jean-Claude Trichet at a press briefing, and could be immensely important for Greece and its banks, Goldman Sachs senior economist Erik Nielsen said. The policy will give investors a clearer idea of how much Greeces sovereign debt will be worth and could help ease turmoil that might otherwise spread to other weak eurozone members such as Portugal or Spain. An abrupt U-turn by the ECB, which will maintain lower collateral standards going into 2011 after initially stressing it would not, has raised questions about whether the central bank had its arm twisted. I think there was great political pressure for the ECB to make sure that Greece is going to get its funding, Barclays Capital economist Thorsten Polleit told AFP. Politically speaking and in terms of the ECB policy independence I think this is a big issue, he added. It is crucial for Greece that banks are able to continue to access ECB funds by putting up Greek government bonds as collateral despite cuts to the countrys credit rating. In London, meanwhile, the Bank of England maintained its main interest rate at a record low of 0.50 percent, at its last monetary policy meeting before a general election on May 6. Back in Frankfurt, Trichet will also be pressed to clarify his position on possible International Monetary Fund aid for Athens. He is unlikely to give much away, particularly given that his earlier warnings against IMF involvement seem largely to have been ignored, Capital Economics senior economist Jennifer McKeown said. Trichet and other ECB directors strongly opposed seeking IMF aid for a eurozone member state, but it is increasingly likely such help will be needed as part of a European Union rescue plan. In the end, Europe will be forced to move to prevent serious financial contagion, Fortis Bank chief European Economist Nick Kounis forecast. The German daily Frankfurter Rundschau said Thursday that an internal German central bank note concluded the EU agreement would force the Bundesbank to transfer money directly to the Greek finance ministry and warned the deal implies risk to stability that should not be underestimated. The Bundesbank also reportedly slammed an IMF role, dubbing it an Inflation Maximizing Fund because the chief IMF economist has called for allowing a higher inflation target than the one accepted by the Bundesbank and the ECB. A Bundesbank spokesman told AFP a working paper on the issue existed but declined to comment on its content. Amid the uncertainty, Greek borrowing costs spiked to a record 7.322 percent on Thursday, the highest level since the country joined the eurozone in 2001. The country must refinance tens of billions of euros (dollars) in debt in the coming months, a small part of its total debt of around 300 billion euros. A report in the Financial Times Thursday said savers had taken 10 billion euros (13 billion dollars) in deposits from the Greek financial system, and the countrys four largest banks have asked the government for guarantees worth 15 billion euros under a support scheme set up last year. Downbeat German industrial production data released on Thursday meanwhile raised the chances that the ECB would be somewhat more pessimistic on eurozone growth prospects this year. Bank staff currently expect the 16-nation economy to expand by a modest 0.8 percent.a