For example, when the Federal Reserve receives an order for currency from a bank, it debits the reserve account of the bank in payment when the currency is shipped, thereby reducing reserve supply. When deciding upon open market operations to control the supply of reserves, the Open Market Desk must take account of these external factors.
Against this background, we have decided to leave the key ECB interest rates unchanged at their present levels, which are very low by historical standards. However, there are upside risks to price stability over the medium term. Strong vigilance is therefore warranted with regard to all developments which could increase such risks.