Monetary policy decisions made between 2015 and 2022 can be found at bundesbank.de

The Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB Governing Council) stays the course in raising interest rates significantly at a steady pace and in keeping them at levels that are sufficiently restrictive to ensure a timely return of inflation to its 2% medium-term target. To this end, it decides to raise the three key ECB interest rates by 50 basis points. The interest rate on the deposit facility now stands at 2.5%. The interest rates on the main refinancing operations and the marginal lending facility stand at 3% and 3.25%, respectively. In view of the underlying inflation pressures, the Governing Council intends to raise interest rates by another 50 basis points at its monetary policy meeting in March. It will then evaluate the subsequent path of its monetary policy.

The Governing Council also decides on the modalities for reducing holdings of securities under the asset purchase programme (APP). As communicated in December 2022, the APP portfolio will decline by € 15 billion per month on average from the beginning of March until the end of June 2023. The subsequent pace of portfolio reduction will be determined over time. Partial reinvestments will be conducted broadly in line with current practice. 

According to the new macroeconomic projections, inflation will remain too high for too long. The ECB Governing Council therefore decides to raise the three key ECB interest rates by another 50 basis points. The interest rate on the deposit facility now stands at 3%. The interest rates on the main refinancing operations and the marginal lending facility stand at 3.5% and 3.75%, respectively. In view of the elevated level of uncertainty due to financial market tensions, the Governing Council once again stresses the importance of a data-dependent approach to policy rate decisions. These decisions will be based on the assessment of the inflation outlook in light of the incoming economic and financial data, the dynamics of underlying inflation and the strength of monetary policy transmission.

In light of the ongoing high inflation pressures, the ECB Governing Council decides to raise the three key ECB interest rates by 25 basis points. The interest rate on the deposit facility now stands at 3.25%. The interest rates on the main refinancing operations and the marginal lending facility stand at 3.75% and 4%, respectively. The Governing Council’s future decisions will ensure that the key interest rates will be brought to levels sufficiently restrictive to achieve a timely return of inflation to the 2% medium-term target. These levels will be maintained for as long as necessary. The Governing Council will continue to follow a data-dependent approach to determining the appropriate level and duration of restriction.

At the same time, it announces that it will continue to reduce its APP portfolio at a measured and predictable pace. In line with these principles, the Governing Council expects to fully discontinue the reinvestments under the APP as of July 2023.

Although inflation has been coming down, the new macroeconomic projections indicate that it will remain too high for too long. The ECB Governing Council therefore decides to raise the three key ECB interest rates by another 25 basis points. The interest rate on the deposit facility now stands at 3.5%. The interest rates on the main refinancing operations and the marginal lending facility stand at 4% and 4.25%, respectively.

The Governing Council also confirms that it will discontinue the reinvestments under the APP as of July 2023.

The developments since the last meeting support the expectation of the ECB Governing Council that inflation will drop further over the remainder of the year but will stay above target for an extended period. The Governing Council decides to raise the three key ECB interest rates by 25 basis points. The interest rate on the deposit facility now stands at 3.75%. The interest rates on the main refinancing operations and the marginal lending facility stand at 4.25% and 4.5%, respectively.

The Governing Council also decides to set the remuneration of minimum reserves at 0%. This decision will improve the efficiency of monetary policy by preserving its effectiveness while reducing the overall amount of interest that needs to be paid on reserves in order to implement the appropriate stance.

On the basis of the new macroeconomic projections, the ECB Governing Council still expects inflation to remain too high for too long. In order to reinforce progress towards a timely return of inflation to the target, the Governing Council decides to raise the three key ECB interest rates by 25 basis points. The interest rate on the deposit facility now stands at 4%. The interest rates on the main refinancing operations and the marginal lending facility stand at 4.5% and 4.75%, respectively.

Based on its current assessment, the Governing Council considers that the key ECB interest rates have reached levels that, maintained for a sufficiently long duration, will make a substantial contribution to the timely return of inflation to the target. The Governing Council’s future decisions will ensure that the key ECB interest rates will be set at sufficiently restrictive levels for as long as necessary. It will continue to follow a data-dependent approach to determining the appropriate level and duration of restriction. 

The ECB Governing Council still expects inflation to stay too high for too long, and domestic price pressures remain strong. At the same time, inflation dropped markedly in September, including due to strong base effects, and most measures of underlying inflation have continued to ease. The Governing Council therefore decides to keep the three key ECB interest rates unchanged.

The ECB Governing Council again decides to keep the three key ECB interest rates unchanged. While inflation has dropped in recent months, it is likely to pick up again temporarily in the near term. According to the latest macroeconomic projections, inflation is expected to decline gradually over the course of 2024, before approaching the Governing Council’s 2% target in 2025. 

The Governing Council additionally decides to advance the normalisation of the Eurosystem’s balance sheet. It intends to continue to reinvest, in full, the principal payments from maturing securities purchased under the pandemic emergency purchase programme (PEPP) during the first half of 2024. The Governing Council intends to reduce the PEPP portfolio by € 7.5 billion per month on average over the second half of the year and to discontinue reinvestments under the PEPP at the end of 2024. It will continue applying flexibility in reinvesting redemptions in the PEPP portfolio, with a view to countering risks to the monetary policy transmission mechanism related to the pandemic.