European Central Bank

Speech

We are stronger together with the euro

The euro is the most tangible representation of European integration and it has made us stronger together, said President Mario Draghi at the European Parliament's plenary session on the anniversary of the euro. Today, our duty is to complete what was started two decades ago.
- Read the speech
- Plenary debate about the ECB’s annual report 2017

In focus
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21 January 2019 MONETARY POLICY

Press conference on Thursday, 24 January 2019

ECB President Mario Draghi 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.

22 January 2019PUBLICATION

Rising demand for loans

Firms and households continued to demand more loans in the fourth quarter of 2018, but banks expect some moderation in demand. Credit standards for loans to enterprises and housing loans remained broadly unchanged, the latest bank lending survey shows.

22/01/2019: Results of the January 2019 euro area bank lending survey
ENGLISH
21/01/2019: Private sector working group publishes “Guiding principles for fallback provisions in new contracts for euro-denominated cash products”
ENGLISH
18/01/2019: Euro area monthly balance of payments: November 2018
ENGLISH
16/01/2019: ECB publishes single Code of Conduct for high-level officials
ENGLISH
15/01/2019: Consolidated financial statement of the Eurosystem as at 11 January 2019
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Commentary
ENGLISH

All press releases

17/01/2019: Sabine Lautenschläger: A supervisory perspective on 2019 and beyond
Speech by Sabine Lautenschläger, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB and Vice-Chair of the Supervisory Board of the ECB, at Risk Management & Supervisory Conference organised by Banking & Payments Federation Ireland, in Dublin, Ireland, 17 January 2019
ENGLISH
15/01/2019: Mario Draghi: Debate about the Annual Report
Speech by Mario Draghi, President of the European Central Bank, at the plenary debate of the European Parliament on the ECB’s Annual Report 2017, Strasbourg, 15 January 2019
ENGLISH
15/01/2019: Mario Draghi: 20th anniversary of the euro
Speech by Mario Draghi, President of the European Central Bank, at the session of the plenary of the European Parliament to mark the anniversary of the euro in Strasbourg, 15 January 2019
ENGLISH
11/01/2019: Yves Mersch: Tenth anniversary of the euro in Slovakia
Speech by Yves Mersch, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, at the International Conference to mark the tenth anniversary of the introduction of the euro in Slovakia, Bratislava, 11 January 2019
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SlovenčinaSK

Charts
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07/01/2019: Luis de Guindos: Fostering resilience and convergence in Economic and Monetary Union
Keynote speech by Luis de Guindos, Vice-President of the ECB, at the conference “Five Years with the Euro”, Latvia, 7 January 2019
ENGLISH

All speeches

17/01/2019: Sabine Lautenschläger: Interview with Politico
Interview with Sabine Lautenschläger, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB and Vice-Chair of the Supervisory Board of the ECB, conducted by Politico on 14 January 2019 and published on 17 January 2019
ENGLISH
16/01/2019: Yves Mersch: Interview with Hospodarske noviny
Interview with Yves Mersch, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, conducted by Kristina Votrubova on 11 January 2019
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SlovenčinaSK
09/01/2019: Luis de Guindos: Interview with Latvian TV
Interview with Luis de Guindos, Vice-President of the ECB, conducted by Toms Pastors on 7 January and broadcast on 9 January for Latvian TV1 “Pasaules Panorama (World Panorama”)
ENGLISH
07/01/2019: Benoît Cœuré: Interview with France Inter
Interview with Benoît Cœuré, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, conducted by Ali Baddou and Alexandra Bensaid and broadcast on 4 January 2019
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FrançaisFR
30/12/2018: Sabine Lautenschläger: Interview with Deutschlandfunk
Interview with Sabine Lautenschläger, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB and Vice-Chair of the Supervisory Board of the ECB, conducted by Klemens Kindermann and broadcast on 30 December 2018
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DeutschDE

All interviews

22/01/2019: The euro area bank lending survey – Fourth quarter of 2018
ENGLISH
ENGLISH

Annex to the euro area bank lending survey
ENGLISH
21/01/2019: Working Group on euro risk-free rates - Guiding principles for fallback provisions in new contracts for euro-denominated cash products
ENGLISH
16/01/2019: Letter from the ECB President to Mr Luke Ming Flanagan, MEP, on the European financial sector
ENGLISH
16/01/2019: Letter from the ECB President to Mr Stelios Kouloglou, MEP, on the Greek adjustment programme
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EλληνικάEL
16/01/2019: Working paper no. 2224: CoMap: mapping contagion in the euro area banking sector
ENGLISH
16/01/2019: Working paper no. 2223: Leaning against the wind: macroprudential policy and the financial cycle
ENGLISH
15/01/2019: Working paper no. 2222: On the retirement effect of inheritance: heterogeneity and the role of risk aversion
ENGLISH
15/01/2019: Working paper no. 2221: Interest rates and foreign spillovers
ENGLISH
11/01/2019: Working paper no. 2220: Attenuating the forward guidance puzzle: implications for optimal monetary policy
ENGLISH
27/12/2018: Economic Bulletin Issue 8, 2018
ENGLISH
ENGLISH

All publications

11/01/2019: Recommendation of the ECB of 7 January 2019 on dividend distribution policies (ECB/2019/1)
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03/01/2019: Opinion on the legal framework for covered bonds (CON/2019/01)
Estonia,
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Eesti keelET
21/12/2018: Decision (EU) 2018/2049 of the ECB of 12 December 2018 on the approval of the volume of coin issuance in 2019 (ECB/2018/35)
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БългарскиBG ČeštinaCS DanskDA DeutschDE EλληνικάEL EspañolES Eesti keelET SuomiFI FrançaisFR HrvatskiHR MagyarHU ItalianoIT LietuviųLT LatviešuLV MaltiMT NederlandsNL PolskiPL PortuguêsPT RomânăRO SlovenčinaSK SlovenščinaSL SvenskaSV
21/12/2018: Opinion on macroprudential tools (CON/2018/58)
Spain,
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EspañolES
14/12/2018: Opinion on the organisation of the functioning of the central register of bank accounts and financial transactions (CON/2018/57)
Belgium,
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FrançaisFR NederlandsNL

All legal acts

10 January 2019ACCOUNT

Account of December monetary policy meeting

The Governing Council underlined at its last monetary policy meeting that an ample degree of monetary accommodation was still needed and that increased caution was warranted in light of persistent uncertainties. It was confirmed that net asset purchases would end in December 2018.

Account

#EUROAT20

How much do you know about the euro?

The euro turned 20 on 1 January 2019. To celebrate this achievement we have put together a quiz for newbies and experts alike. Test your knowledge of the euro and the European Central Bank!

Take the quiz now!
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Visit #EUROat20 hub
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БългарскиBG ČeštinaCS DanskDA DeutschDE EλληνικάEL EspañolES Eesti keelET SuomiFI FrançaisFR HrvatskiHR MagyarHU ItalianoIT LietuviųLT LatviešuLV MaltiMT NederlandsNL PolskiPL PortuguêsPT RomânăRO SlovenčinaSK SlovenščinaSL SvenskaSV

Interest rates

Marginal lending facility	0.25 %
Main refinancing operations (fixed rate)	0.00 %
Deposit facility	− 0.40 %

Effective from 16 March 2016

Past key ECB interest rates

Inflation rates

Full inflation chart
Inflation dashboard

Reference rates

USD	US dollar	1.1362
JPY	Japanese yen	124.60
GBP	Pound sterling	0.88303
CHF	Swiss franc	1.1343

Last update: Monday, 21 January 2019 Euro foreign exchange rates

Financial stability

Market operations

Multimedia

Travelogue: ECB Executive Board member Benoît Cœuré visiting Vorwerk factory in Cloyes-sur-le-Loir
Unveiling of the New 100 and 200 Euro Banknotes
20 years of ESCB statistics: What's next?
20th anniversary – Staff testimonials / First Day at the ECB
ECB Forum on Central Banking 2018
How are Executive Board members chosen?
Interview with Vítor Constâncio. ECB Vice-President (2011 – 2018)
Financial Stability Review - May 2018
Vítor Constâncio interview on the Financial Stability Review - May 2018
How does the euro help Europeans do business?
What is ethical hacking?
Generation €uro Students' Award 2018
Communications challenges for policy effectiveness, accountability and reputation
Meeting the #EuroVideoChallenge finalists at the award ceremony
What is TARGET Instant Payment Settlement (TIPS)?
#ECBYouthDialogue - Dublin, Ireland
Highlights ECB Forum on Central Banking 2017
#ECBYouthDialogue - Lisbon 2017
Interview Vítor Constâncio on Financial Stability Review
EU Open Days - May 2017
Generation €uro Students' Award 2017
The new €50 banknote is now in circulation
How quantitative easing works
15 years of the euro
Inside the Asset Purchase Programme
ECB and the Eurosystem explained in 3 min.

ECB Press Conference - 25 October 2018
European Cultural Days - 25 September 2018
Visit of German Federal President Steinmeier to the ECB - 26 Sep 2018
ECB Press Conference - 13 September 2018
New €100 & €200 - Security features
Estonian Art Vernissage - 27 June 2018
ECB Forum on Central Banking - 18/20 June 2018
ECB Press Conference - 14 June 2018
EU Open Day - 5 May 2018
Joint Conference of the European Central Bank and the European Commission - 3 May 2018
ECB Press Conference - 26 April 2018
Generation €uro Students’ Award - 10 -11 April 2018
Luminale: Cross Hatch - 18 March 2018
ECB Press Conference - 8 March 2018
Central Bank Communications Conference - 14-15 November 2017
2017 #EuroVideoChallenge Award Ceremony in Lyon - 9 November 2017
European Cultural Days - 26 October 2017
ECB Press Conference - 26 October 2017
Inauguration ECB Visitor Centre – 4 October 2017
Sendung mit der Maus - 3 October 2017
#ECBYouthDialogue, Dublin - 22 September 2017
Opening of the Cyprus Contemporary Art Exhibition - 20 September 2017
ECB Press Conference - 7 September 2017
ECB Press Conference - 20 July 2017
#ECBYouthDialogue - 26 June 2017, Lisbon, Portugal
ECB Forum on Central Banking - Sintra, Portugal, 26-28 June 2017
ECB Press Conference - 8 June 2017, Tallinn
EU Open Day in Brussels - 6 May 2017
ECB Open Day for women in technical fields - 04 May 2017
ECB Press Conference - 27 April 2017
The new €50 banknote - 4 April 2017
Generation Euro Students' Award - 4/5 April 2017
Europe's digital integrated market - 31 January 2017
25 November 2016 UN Orange Day
17 October 2016 Cultural Days Opening Concert
3 October 2016 Türen Auf!
Unveiling of the new €50 banknote
Young Economists at ECB Forum on Central Banking
ECB Main Building
Luminale 2016 - ECB's illuminated buildings

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