Current monetary policy

Go to the website of the European Central Bank (http://

www.ecb.int/home/html/index.en.html) and download the

most recent monetary policy decisions press release of the

Governing Council. Make sure you get the most recent GC press

release and not simply the most recent ECB press release.

a. What is the current stance of monetary policy? (Note that

policy will be described in terms of increasing or decreasing interest rates as opposed to increasing or decreasing

the money supply.)

b. If the interest rate on the main refinancing operations has

changed recently, what does the change imply about the

bond holdings of the ECB? Has the ECB been increasing

or decreasing its bond holdings?