Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on February 5, 2026
3 min readLast updated: February 5, 2026
The ECB is expanding its liquidity facility to more countries, aiming to enhance the euro's global role by making access cheaper and easier.
By Francesco Canepa and Balazs Koranyi
FRANKFURT, Feb 5 (Reuters) - The European Central Bank is working on opening up access to euro liquidity to more countries, making it cheaper and easier to obtain as part of efforts to bolster the international role of the single currency, three sources told Reuters.
ECB President Christine Lagarde has long seen these liquidity lines as a key tool to boost the euro's global reach, particularly at a time when investors are reassessing the dollar's status due to the unpredictable nature of U.S. President Donald Trump's economic policy.
The move, the details of which are still being worked out and will likely be announced around the Munich Security Conference next week, will result in more generous terms for gaining access to the ECB's repurchase agreements, the sources said.
These allow foreign central banks to borrow euros against collateral denominated in the single currency and are designed for times of crisis, when commercial banks outside the euro zone may struggle to get liquidity in euros.
RATES LOWERED, CAPS EASED
Under the changes, the interest rate on these operations would be lowered, rules would be standardised and stringent caps on how much each country's central bank could borrow from the ECB would be eased, the sources said.
The ECB would, however, reserve the right to turn down a central bank on reputational grounds and the Governing Council of policymakers may have the final word on any transaction, they added.
An ECB spokesperson declined to comment.
Lagarde hinted at some of these changes during her press conference on Thursday, saying the ECB would make repo lines more attractive to other national central banks outside the euro area and beyond.
This facility, known as Eurep, is currently only available to eight countries that neighbour the euro area, including European Union nations such as Romania and Hungary, and others including Albania and Montenegro.
Access to such a facility often strengthens smaller nations' ability to withstand financial market stress.
Repo lines are not often used and take-up has been modest in recent months, but there was a spike to 3.9 billion euros at the end of last year.
ECB policymakers discussed the initiative at a meeting on Thursday. Some felt the ECB had been too political in the past when deciding which central banks should obtain a Eurep line, one source said. Serbia, for example, has been denied access to Eurep.
China has similar ambitions, with President Xi Jinping reportedly saying his country should build a powerful currency that could be widely used in international trade, investment and foreign exchange markets, and attain reserve currency status.
(Reporting by Francesco Canepa and Balazs Koranyi; Editing by Alex Richardson)
The European Central Bank (ECB) is the central bank for the euro and administers monetary policy within the Eurozone, aiming to maintain price stability and manage the euro currency.
Liquidity refers to how easily assets can be converted into cash without affecting their market price. High liquidity means assets can be quickly sold, while low liquidity indicates difficulty in selling.
A foreign central bank is the central bank of a country outside the Eurozone that manages its own currency and monetary policy, and may interact with the ECB for liquidity needs.
The euro area consists of European Union countries that have adopted the euro as their official currency, facilitating easier trade and economic stability among member states.
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