All explainers

21 April 2023

What are climate disclosures?

29 November 2022 

Profits and losses of the ECB and the euro area national central banks: where do they come from?

07 November 2022

Why does climate change matter to the ECB?

27 October 2022

What are minimum reserve requirements?

21 October 2022

What is the deposit facility rate?

05 October 2022

The digital euro and the importance of central bank money

01 October 2022

How are we decarbonising our corporate bond holdings?

23 September 2022

We have raised interest rates. What does that mean for you?

28 July 2022

What is forward guidance?

28 July 2022

The ECB's negative interest rate

18 May 2022

What are currency swap lines?

16 November 2021

Why is inflation currently so high?

20 October 2021

Why do statistics matter?

25 August 2021

Why are stable prices important?

25 August 2021

How does the ECB's asset purchase programme work?

25 August 2021

Five things you need to know about the ECB

25 August 2021

Is the ECB “expropriating” savers?

25 August 2021

What is monetary policy?

28 July 2021

What is the PEPP?

14 July 2021

What is bitcoin?

30 March 2021

What are targeted longer-term refinancing operations (TLTROs)?

30 January 2021

What the European Central Bank does and what it means for you

14 January 2021

What are additional credit claim (ACC) frameworks?

20 November 2020

What is AnaCredit?

12 August 2020

What are TARGET2 balances?

27 April 2020

What does a country need to do to join the euro area?

1 February 2020

Five things you need to know about the Maastricht Treaty

1 February 2020

What are instant payments?

30 January 2020

Who owns the ECB?

13 December 2019

How you benefit from the euro

13 December 2019

The euro area in comparison

15 November 2019

What is ANFA?

26 August 2019

What is a lender of last resort?

11 July 2019

What are benchmark rates, why are they important and why are they being reformed?

29 January 2019

What is the quiet period?

13 September 2018

What is the marginal lending facility rate?

13 September 2018

What is the main refinancing operations rate?

18 July 2018

What is economic slack?

11 April 2018

What is a deposit guarantee scheme?

10 April 2018

Why is cyber resilience important?

28 December 2017

What is excess liquidity and why does it matter?

18 October 2017

What are structural reforms?

27 June 2017

How does innovation lead to growth?

20 June 2017

What is money?

24 May 2017

A quick guide to macroprudential policies

19 April 2017

How could new technology transform financial markets?

7 April 2017

What is seigniorage?

16 February 2017

Does the ECB make a profit?

12 January 2017

Why is the ECB independent?

8 December 2016

What is securities lending?

3 November 2016

What are haircuts?

28 September 2016

Why does the ECB conduct research?

12 September 2016

What are non-performing loans (NPLs)?

29 June 2016

What is TARGET2?

28 June 2016

What is the role of exchange rates?

25 May 2016

What are interest rates and what is the difference between nominal and real interest rates?

31 March 2016

What is the expanded asset purchase programme?

10 July 2015

How is the ECB accountable for its actions?

1 December 2014

Rotation of voting rights in the Governing Council