European Central Bank

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A sustainable path towards adopting the euro

The euro represents a source of economic strength and a political commitment to grow closer together over time, Executive Board member Fabio Panetta told Members of the European Parliament, discussing convergence as well as Bulgaria and Croatia joining the banking union and ERM II.
- Speech
- Explainer: What does a country need to do to join the euro area?

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13 July 2020 MONETARY POLICY

Press conference on Thursday, 16 July 2020

ECB President Christine Lagarde and Vice-President Luis de Guindos explain the Governing Council’s monetary policy decisions and answer questions from journalists.

The press conference starts at 14:30 CET.

10 July 2020 PRESS RELEASE

Bulgaria and Croatia join ERM II

The Bulgarian lev and Croatian kuna are being included in the EU’s Exchange Rate Mechanism II. An EU country must participate in ERM II for at least two years before it can adopt the euro, in addition to fulfilling other convergence criteria.

14/07/2020: Consolidated financial statement of the Eurosystem as at 10 July 2020
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Commentary
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14/07/2020: July 2020 euro area bank lending survey
English
13/07/2020: Euro central and compulsory intervention rates for Bulgarian lev and Croatian kuna in ERM II
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БългарскиBG ČeštinaCS DanskDA DeutschDE EλληνικάEL Eesti keelET SuomiFI FrançaisFR HrvatskiHR MagyarHU ItalianoIT LietuviųLT LatviešuLV MaltiMT NederlandsNL PolskiPL PortuguêsPT RomânăRO SlovenčinaSK SlovenščinaSL SvenskaSV EspañolES
10/07/2020: Communiqué on Croatia
English

Application letter from the Croatian authorities - including the annex with the post-entry commitments to be taken at the time of ERM II entry
English
10/07/2020: Communiqué on Bulgaria
English

Application letter from the Bulgarian authorities - including the annex with the post-entry commitments to be taken at the time of ERM II entry
English

All press releases

13/07/2020: Fabio Panetta: Pursuing a successful path towards euro area accession
Introductory remarks by Fabio Panetta, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, at a meeting of the Euro Accession Countries Working Group of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament
English
07/07/2020: Fabio Panetta: Unleashing the euro’s untapped potential at global level
Introductory remarks by Fabio Panetta, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, Meeting with Members of the European Parliament
English
02/07/2020: The ECB’s monetary policy during the coronavirus crisis – necessary, suitable and proportionate
Presentation by Isabel Schnabel, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, at the Berlin Economic Roundtable, 2 July 2020
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DeutschDE
02/07/2020: Yves Mersch: In the spirit of European cooperation
Introductory remarks by Yves Mersch, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB and Vice-Chair of the Supervisory Board of the ECB, at the Salzburg Global webinar
English
01/07/2020: Fabio Panetta: The price of uncertainty and uncertainty about prices: monetary policy in the post-COVID-19 economy
Keynote speech by Fabio Panetta at a Capital Markets webinar organised by the European Investment Bank and the European Stability Mechanism
English

Slides
English

All speeches

13/07/2020: Isabel Schnabel: Interview with ARD “plusminus”
Transcript of an interview with Isabel Schnabel, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, with ARD “plusminus”, conducted by Markus Gürne on 8 July 2020
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DeutschDE
08/07/2020: Christine Lagarde: Interview with Financial Times
Video interview with Christine Lagarde, President of the ECB, conducted by Roula Khalaf on 7 July 2020 and posted on 8 July 2020
English
07/07/2020: Isabel Schnabel: Interview with NRC Handelsblad
Interview with Isabel Schnabel, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, conducted by Mark Beunderman on 1 July 2020
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NederlandsNL
01/07/2020: Philip R. Lane: Interview with Reuters news agency
Interview with Philip R. Lane, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, conducted by Balázs Korányi, Francesco Canepa and Frank Siebelt
English
01/07/2020: Luis de Guindos: Interview with La Stampa
Interview with Luis de Guindos, Vice-President of the ECB, conducted by Marco Zatterin on 26 June 2020 and published on 1 July 2020
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ItalianoIT

All interviews

28/06/2020: Isabel Schnabel: Necessary, suitable and proportionate
Blog post by Isabel Schnabel, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, in Welt am Sonntag

Summary
Our crisis measures respond to the worst economic crisis in the post-war period, says Executive Board member Isabel Schnabel. They are necessary, suitable and proportionate and benefit all European citizens.
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DeutschDE
22/06/2020: Philip R. Lane: The market stabilisation role of the pandemic emergency purchase programme
Blog post by Philip R. Lane, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB

Summary
Evidence shows that the policies adopted by the ECB in mid-March, including the pandemic emergency purchase programme (PEPP) and other liquidity-easing measures, have contributed to stabilising markets, writes Chief Economist Philip R. Lane.
English
12/06/2020: Fabio Panetta: Sharing and strengthening the euro’s privilege
Blog post by Fabio Panetta, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB

Summary
The goals of boosting the euro’s global standing and sharing its advantages more evenly are one and the same, writes Executive Board member Fabio Panetta. Through the right mix of European fiscal and monetary policy, we can build a better functioning Monetary Union that achieves both of these goals.
English
05/06/2020: Philip R. Lane: Expanding the pandemic emergency purchase programme
Blog post by Philip R. Lane, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB

Summary
Two main factors called for further policy action, writes Chief Economist Philip R. Lane. First, the pandemic-related negative shock to inflation poses a threat to medium-term price stability. Second, while conditions in financial markets have stabilised substantially, the situation remains fragile.
English
01/05/2020: Philip R. Lane: The monetary policy response to the pandemic emergency
Blog post by Philip R. Lane, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB

Summary
In an ECB Blog post, Chief Economist Philip R. Lane discusses the macroeconomic scenarios developed by ECB staff to illustrate the possible impact of the pandemic. He also explains current monetary policy and outlines the approach to setting the future course of monetary policy.
English

All blog posts

14/07/2020: The euro area bank lending survey – Second quarter of 2020
ENGLISH
10/07/2020: ECB assessment report on completion of the commitments made by the Republic of Croatia on the macroprudential toolkit
English
10/07/2020: ECB assessment report on completion of the commitments made by the Republic of Bulgaria on the macroprudential toolkit
English
08/07/2020: Working paper no. 2442: Central banks in parliaments: a text analysis of the parliamentary hearings of the Bank of England, the European Central Bank and the Federal Reserve
English
08/07/2020: Working paper no. 2441: Modeling the consumption response to the CARES Act
English
06/07/2020: Working paper no. 2440: Compositional effects of O-SII capital buffers and the role of monetary policy
English
06/07/2020: Working paper no. 2439: Who takes the ECB’s targeted funding?
English
03/07/2020: Working paper no. 2438: Financial intermediation and technology: What’s old, what’s new?
English
03/07/2020: Working paper no. 2437: Drivers of European public debt management
English
02/07/2020: Working paper no. 2436: Forecasting macroeconomic risk in real time: Great and Covid-19 Recessions
English

All publications

14 July 2020 PUBLICATION

Results of the July 2020 bank lending survey

Firms’ loan demand surged further in Q2 2020, reflecting the need for emergency liquidity. Credit standards for loans to firms remained favourable, supported by fiscal and monetary measures. By contrast, credit standards for loans to households tightened further.

Euro area bank lending survey

PODCAST

Banks in the coronavirus crisis

What challenges does the coronavirus pandemic pose for banks? What role can they play in helping the economy deal with this crisis? Our host Michael Steen discusses these questions and more with ECB Supervisory Board Chair Andrea Enria.

Interest rates

Marginal lending facility	0.25 %
Main refinancing operations (fixed rate)	0.00 %
Deposit facility	− 0.50 %

Effective from 18 September 2019

Past key ECB interest rates

Inflation rates

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Reference rates

USD	US dollar	1.1375
JPY	Japanese yen	122.17
GBP	Pound sterling	0.90778
CHF	Swiss franc	1.0691

Last update: Tuesday, 14 July 2020 Euro foreign exchange rates

Financial stability

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Multimedia

ECB Governing Council Press Conference - 04 June 2020
Join a Youth Dialogue with Christine Lagarde
ECB Governing Council Press Conference - 30 April 2020
Christine Lagarde, President of the ECB, signing the euro banknotes, 28 November 2019
The ECB explains: crypto-assets
ECB Forum on Central Banking 2019
Download the ECB Art App
Travelogue: ECB Executive Board member Benoît Cœuré visiting Vorwerk factory in Cloyes-sur-le-Loir
Euro Banknotes – Our Money, Our Journey
Unveiling of the New 100 and 200 Euro Banknotes

ECB Press Conference - 04 June 2020
Youth Dialogue with Christine Lagarde - 27 May 2020
ECB Press Conference - 30 April 2020
New signature for euro banknotes - 28 November 2019
Christine Lagarde's Keynote Speech - European Banking Congress 2019
Farewell President Draghi - 28 October 2019
ECB Conference on Gender and Career Progression - 21 October 2019
ECB Press Conference - 24 October 2019
European Cultural Days of the ECB: Museumssalon - October 23 2019
European Cultural Days -10 October 2019

The international role of the euro, June 2018
Financial integration in Europe, May 2018
Price and wage-setting in advanced economies
ESCB Legal Conference 2018
Legal framework of the Eurosystem and the European System of Central Banks. ECB legal acts and instruments
Statistics for Economic and Monetary Union. Enhancements and new directions, 2003-12, by Peter Bull
The monetary policy of the ECB
The payment system – payments, securities and derivatives, and the role of the Eurosystem in this field