The Governing Council of the Eurosystem decided on the level of the key ECB interest rates, following a comprehensive assessment of the outlook for price stability and the associated risks, based on its economic and monetary analyses. The Executive Board of the ECB then organised the refinancing operations with eligible counterparts in order to implement the decision of the Governing Council.
And it did so in a relatively “standard” fashion, employing a relatively small set of instruments in a rather predictable way. Through its refinancing operations, the ECB aims at supplying the amount of liquidity that is necessary for a smoothly operating banking system, influencing short-term money market interest rates to align them with the policy stance signalled by the Governing Council.