These measures have reinforced the monetary accommodation that was already in place before the pandemic. In terms of policy tools, our response to the pandemic has been structured along two key axes: lending operations and asset purchases. Notably, we have provided banks with access to central bank liquidity on generous terms, and over long maturities, to help them continue to provide credit.
To this end, our longer-term liquidity refinancing operations have played a key role in supporting the bank lending channel and thereby the smooth and even transmission of our monetary policy. In particular, our targeted longer-term refinancing operations (TLTRO III) have supported the supply of credit during the pandemic.