Share on LinkedInShare on LinkedIn

ARTICLE · 12 JUNE 2014

Deloitte Monday Briefing: ECB Deploys The Bazooka…Again

A personal take on economics from Ian Stewart, Deloitte's Chief Economist in the UK.

United KingdomStrategy
  • Last week the European Central Bank announced a series of measures to boost the region's economy and head off the risk of deflation. Most eye-catching was a reduction in the interest rate, to minus 0.1%, which the ECB offers banks on their deposits.
  • A negative interest rate is akin to a levy on deposits at the Central Bank. By penalising such deposits the ECB hopes it will encourage banks to lend more to companies and consumers. As well as the penalty of negative interest rates the ECB is offering an incentive, in the form of ultra-cheap ECB funding, for banks that lend to the private sector.
  • This all amounts to a significant easing of euro area monetary policy. Markets were left in no doubt that the ECB may well go further. The ECB President, Mario Draghi, said that ECB rates will remain at current, very low levels, "for an extended period of time" and said the Bank is prepared to do more, if necessary, to boost euro area growth.

We operate a free-to-view policy, asking only that you register in order to read all of our content. Please login or register to view the rest of this article.

See more popular content from