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Thursday, July 16, 2015

The ECB just turned the funding taps back on for Greek banks

The European Central Bank's latest decision on interest rates is out — as expected, there's no change on that front. The benchmark interest rate remains at 0.05%, and the deposit rate is still in negative territory at -0.20%. ECB President Mario Draghi steps up to talk to the press at 1:30 p.m. UK time (8:30 New York time). You can watch the whole thing here. Here's what he's said so far: He's once again stated that he expects European quantitative easing to last until September 2016.  That said, inflation and money supply growth are steadily picking up. He says the European recovery is broadening, inflation is picking up slightly from very low levels, credit growth is picking up and the effects of the ECB's monetary policy changes (mostly QE) are already visible. Draghi also added that the ECB stands ready and willing to use all its tools if economic conditions tighten — probably a tacit reference to Greece's turmoil. In general, that was a boilerplate opening statement — here it is — standard Draghi. The questions now begin. In the first question, about Greece, Draghi confirmed that emergency liquidity assistance (ELA) to Greece has been increased today.   Draghi says there were governing council members that wanted to scrap ELA entirely, and that hiking the level of assistance again is consistent with their decision to freeze it previously (before a bailout deal was made). "It's not up to us to decide who is a member of the eurozone and who is not" — Draghi is touting the ECB's non-political role. Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Hugh Hefner's son reveals what it was like growing up in the Playboy Mansion


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT uk.businessinsider.com