European Central Bank – Publications

19 February 2024By Ulrich Bindseil, Piero Cipollone and Jürgen Schaaf Many banks worry their customers might withdraw deposits to hold digital euro instead. These fears are misplaced: a digital euro will be designed as a means of payment and not for investment, argue ECB Executive Board member Piero Cipollone, Ulrich Bindseil and Jürgen Schaaf. On 18 October 2023 the ECB’s Governing Council outlined the scope and key features of a…

13 February 2024By Imène Rahmouni-Rousseau and Isabel Schnabel[1]When reading data on reinvestments under the pandemic emergency purchase programme (PEPP) one needs to understand how we implement purchases. Director General Market Operations Imène Rahmouni-Rousseau and Executive Board member Isabel Schnabel explain how to avoid pitfalls.In March 2020, the ECB launched the PEPP “to counter the serious risks to the monetary policy transmission mechanism and the outlook for the euro area” posed…

29 January 2024By Piero Cipollone, Philip Lane and Isabel SchnabelThe ECB can lend euro to non-euro area central banks to reduce the risk of financial stress spilling over to the euro area. Piero Cipollone, Philip Lane and Isabel Schnabel explain how we have made such liquidity lines more effective and agile. The financial disruptions during the coronavirus pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have once again underscored the importance of…

10 January 2024By Matteo FalagiardaWithin the euro area, countries in central and eastern Europe have recently experienced the highest inflation rates. But why, exactly? The ECB Blog looks at the reasons for these higher prices and highlights the resulting risks and vulnerabilities.Since 2021 inflation in euro area countries in central and eastern Europe (EACEE) has significantly outpaced that of the euro area as a whole.[1] The differentials have narrowed in…

30 December 2023By Paschal Donohoe (President of the Eurogroup), Christine Lagarde (President of the European Central Bank), Roberta Metsola (President of the European Parliament), Charles Michel (President of the European Council) and Ursula von der Leyen (President of the European Commission)25 years ago, on 1 January 1999, the euro came into force as the single currency for 11 EU Member States. It now serves the economy and eases life for…

18 December 2023By Friderike Kuik, Wolfgang Modery, Christiane Nickel and Miles ParkerThis is the sixth post in our series accompanying COP28.The ECB’s primary mandate is to maintain price stability. So why do we talk about climate change? In this post on The ECB Blog, we show how a hotter climate affects prices and the economy and discuss how this impacts the task of central banks. A hotter climate leads to…

12 December 2023By Ludivine Berret, Jean Boissinot, Marianna Caccavaio, Michael Grill, Paul Hiebert and Fabio TamburriniThis is the fifth post in our series accompanying COP28.Climate change can endanger financial stability. The ECB Blog looks at how a common macroprudential policy framework could complement microprudential initiatives to make the financial system more resilient. Catastrophes caused by climate change, such as rising sea levels or more frequent extreme weather events, will harm…

29 November 2023By Olimpia Carradori, Margherita Giuzio, Sujit Kapadia, Dilyara Salakhova and Katia VozianThis post is the second in our series accompanying COP28.European firms need to invest in new technologies to reach carbon neutrality by 2050. This often requires them to take on debt. But what if a company is already highly leveraged? The ECB Blog looks at the relationship between firms’ indebtedness and their success in reducing emissions.With the…

One notable recent development in the euro area labour market has been a strong rebound in the labour force. In particular, over the last year and a half, the main source of employment growth has been the strong inflow of people joining the labour force rather than a sharp decline in the number of unemployed. This box provides an overview of recent euro area labour force developments using data from…

The widespread lockdowns which began in March 2020, implemented to contain the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, caused global supply disruptions and suppressed demand. As a result, euro area output dropped and international trade plummeted. The euro area economy recovered solidly after the first strict lockdowns were lifted in 2020, despite the adverse shocks in 2021 and 2022 associated with global supply bottlenecks, the energy crisis and the uncertainty…