Le latest decisions of the European Central Bank they aim to facilitate the supply of liquidity and credit to the real economy. This was stated by the president of the ECB, Mario Draghi, in the press conference at the end of the Governing Council which decided today a new cut in the Eurozone's key rate to a historic low of 0,5%. The rate on the ECB's marginal refinancing operations fell by half a point, to 1%, while the rate on deposits, already at 0,00%, remained unchanged.
According to the former Bank of Italy number one, the decision (which the board did not take unanimously) "should help support" the economic recovery, which the Central Bank expects starting from the second half of the year, despite the downside risks”, in particular due to the possibility of a “weaker than expected” demand and an insufficient implementation of the economic reforms initiated by the various countries.
The monetary policy of the ECB "will remain accommodating for as long as necessary", reiterated Draghi, then announcing that the central bank has decided to carry out three extraordinary auctions of ultra-subsidised three-month loans intended for commercial banks.
The Central Institute has also decided to continue at least until mid-July 2014 the favorable conditions it applies on refinancing in favor of banks, in particular the allocation of the requested funds at a predetermined fixed rate and linked to the official reference minimums.
“The combination of this measure with the rate cut assumes crucial importance – Draghi said again -. We act in line with our analysis of price developments, weakness in the real economy and credit. We aim to guarantee liquidity to the banking system, so that it has no excuse not to provide credit".
Finally, the European Central Bank continues to see no signs of risk on the inflation front, which has recently marked clear easing in the euro area. “Price expectations continue to be firmly anchored with our goal of keeping annual growth below but close to 2% over the long term,” Draghi concluded.
