Economics

ECB Seen Giving Long-Term Loans in 2019, Going Slow on Rates

Economists expect loan announcement by March, issuance by June
Deposit rate now only forecast to rise to zero by March 2020

An illuminated euro currency symbol is projected on to the European Central Bank (ECB) headquarters during the Luminale light festival in Frankfurt, Germany, on Thursday, March 17, 2016. European government bonds climbed after the Federal Reserve signaled that it will raise interest rates at a slower pace than previously estimated, bolstering demand for fixed-income securities around the world.Photographer: Martin Leissl

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By Piotr Skolimowski and Catarina Saraiva

December 7, 2018 at 12:01 AM UTC

Updated on

December 7, 2018 at 7:48 AM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

The European Central Bank will offer new long-term loans to banks next year while going slow on interest rates to underpin the region’s increasingly fragile upswing, according to a Bloomberg survey of economists.

Almost three-quarters of respondents said they expect an announcement of such funding by March, to be handed out three months later. A deposit-rate hike is still seen in September, but economists pushed back their estimate for when the rate will reach zero. The ECB’s Governing Council may give some clues on its plans after the next policy meeting on Dec. 13.