In the case of the ECB, the Governing Council acted swiftly to address these risks through our policy of enhanced credit support. 15 Since banks play a central role in the intermediation of credit in the euro area, we have largely directed our efforts at banks rather than intervening to influence activity and spreads in specific financial markets.
To satisfy the higher liquidity needs of banks, we decided to allocate liquidity on a full allotment basis at fixed rates. We also lengthened the maturity of our operations up to one year, to give banks a more medium-term perspective in their liquidity planning.