These essentially amount to direct purchases of assets by the central bank, so as directly to affect the price of that asset and/or the balance sheet of the counterparty, or to act as “intermediator of last resort”.
The ECB has just announced a joint action with the Federal Reserve System to lend dollars to the European banks. What has brought us to this situation? Could the ECB embark upon other measures, for example more twelve-month tenders? In addition, the liquidity crisis is reducing the banks’ capital.