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(ECB) European Central Bank,  open market operations.
Federations

07 November 2014

(ECB) European Central Bank, open market operations.

The Eurosystem’s regular open market operations consist of one-week liquidity-providing operations in euro (main refinancing operations, or MROs) as well as three-month liquidity-providing operations in euro (longer-term refinancing operations, or LTROs). MROs serve to steer short-term interest rates, to manage the liquidity situation and to signal the monetary policy stance in the euro area, while LTROs provide additional, longer-term refinancing to the financial sector.
In recent years, the regular operations have been complemented by two liquidity-providing long-term refinancing operations in euro with a three-year maturity (maturing on 29 January 2015 and on 26 February 2015), as well as by US dollar liquidity-providing operations. In addition, the ECB announced in June 2014 that it would conduct a series of targeted longer-term refinancing operations (TLTROs) aimed at improving bank lending to the euro area non-financial private sector, excluding loans to households for house purchase, over a window of two years. [For modalities of the TLTROs see the press releases on 5 June 2014 and 3 July 2014.]
In addition, in 2009 and 2011 the Eurosystem launched two covered bond purchase programmes (the CBPP, which ended in June 2010, and CBPP2, which ended in October 2012). From 10 May 2010 to February 2012 it conducted interventions in debt markets under the Securities Markets Programme (SMP), which was terminated in September 2012. In August 2012 the ECB announced the possibility of conducting outright open market operations in secondary sovereign bond markets to safeguard an appropriate monetary policy transmission and preserve the singleness of its monetary policy. The technical features of such operations, named Outright Monetary Transactions, were announced in September 2012.
An annex entitled “Chronology of monetary policy measures of the Eurosystem” is provided in each issue of the ECB’s Monthly Bulletin. For details of the ECB’s response to the recent financial crisis, see the article in the October 2010 issue of the Bulletin, and President Draghi’s speech “The role of monetary policy in addressing the crisis in the euro area” (15 April 2013).
In September 2014, the ECB announced two new purchase programmes, namely the ABS purchase programme (ABSPP) and the third covered bond purchase programme (CBPP3). The programmes will enhance transmission of monetary policy, support provision of credit to the euro area economy and, as a result, provide further monetary policy accommodation.
For the challenges to monetary policy in a low inflation environment, see President Mario Draghi’s speech “Monetary policy in a prolonged period of low inflation”.
For more information:

European Central Bank (ECB)
Directorate General Communications and Language Services
Kaiserstrasse 29
D-60311 Frankfurt am Main / Germany
Tel. +49 69 1344 7455
Email: info@ecb.europa.eu

http://www.ecb.europa.eu