Skip to content
Subscriber Only
Markets
Economics

Draghi Gives Banks Pain Relief as ECB Negative Rates Deepen

  • Central bank exempts some deposits from negative rate costs
  • Bank stocks slip as rate concerns outweigh relief plan
Video player cover image
ECB's Draghi Says Euro-Area Needs `Highly Accommodative' Policy
Updated on

The European Central Bank offered lenders partial relief from its negative interest rates -- cut again on Thursday -- but it wasn’t enough to restore confidence in Europe’s banks, which saw their stocks slide.

The Governing Council is introducing a two-tier system for reserves in which part of banks’ holdings of excess liquidity will be exempt from the ECB’s deposit charges. The ECB also improved the conditions for making long-term loans to banks, known as TLTROs, by lowering the interest rate.