European_Central_Bank

context: The European Central Bank (ECB) is the central bank for the euro and administers monetary policy of the Eurozone, which consists of 19 EU member states and is one of the largest currency areas in the world. It is one of the world's most important central banks and is one of the seven institutions of the European Union (EU) listed in the Treaty on European Union (TEU). The capital stock of the bank is owned by the central banks of all 28 EU member states.[dated info] The Treaty of Amsterdam established the bank in 1998, and it is headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany. As of 2015[update] the President of the ECB is Mario Draghi, former governor of the Bank of Italy, former member of the World Bank, and former managing director of the Goldman Sachs international division (2002–2005). The bank primarily occupied the Eurotower prior to, and during, the construction of the new headquarters.
qas: answers: Mario Draghi
question: What former managing director od Goldman Sachs international division is president of The European Central Bank?

answers: The European Central Bank
question: What is the official, central bank for the euro?

answers: consists of 19 EU member states and is one of the largest currency areas in the world
question: What is the Eurozone?

answers: the central banks of all 28 EU member states
question: Who owns the capital stock of The European Central Bank?

answers: The Treaty of Amsterdam
question: What established The European Central Bank?

context: The primary objective of the European Central Bank, as mandated in Article 2 of the Statute of the ECB, is to maintain price stability within the Eurozone. The basic tasks, as defined in Article 3 of the Statute, are to define and implement the monetary policy for the Eurozone, to conduct foreign exchange operations, to take care of the foreign reserves of the European System of Central Banks and operation of the financial market infrastructure under the TARGET2 payments system and the technical platform (currently being developed) for settlement of securities in Europe (TARGET2 Securities). The ECB has, under Article 16 of its Statute, the exclusive right to authorise the issuance of euro banknotes. Member states can issue euro coins, but the amount must be authorised by the ECB beforehand.
qas: answers: maintain price stability within the Eurozone
question: What is the main mission of the ECB?

answers: Article 16 of its Statute
question: What gives the ECB the right to authorise the issuance of euro banknotes?

answers: the amount must be authorised by the ECB beforehand
question: How can a member state use euro coins?

answers: Article 2 of the Statute of the ECB
question: Where is the mission for the European Central Bank found?

answers: Article 3 of the Statute
question: Where can the basic tasks of the European Central Bank be found?

context: The first President of the Bank was Wim Duisenberg, the former president of the Dutch central bank and the European Monetary Institute. While Duisenberg had been the head of the EMI (taking over from Alexandre Lamfalussy of Belgium) just before the ECB came into existence, the French government wanted Jean-Claude Trichet, former head of the French central bank, to be the ECB's first president. The French argued that since the ECB was to be located in Germany, its president should be French. This was opposed by the German, Dutch and Belgian governments who saw Duisenberg as a guarantor of a strong euro. Tensions were abated by a gentleman's agreement in which Duisenberg would stand down before the end of his mandate, to be replaced by Trichet.
qas: answers: Wim Duisenberg
question: Who was the first president of the ECB?

answers: former president of the Dutch central bank and the European Monetary Institute
question: What was Duisenberg's previous business experience?

answers: Jean-Claude Trichet
question: Who did the French government think was best candidate for President of the ECB?

answers: since the ECB was to be located in Germany, its president should be French
question: Why did the French want a French bank president?

answers: Duisenberg would stand down before the end of his mandate, to be replaced by Trichet
question: What did the French, German, Dutch and Belgian governments finally compromise on with regards to managing the ECB?

context: The primary objective of the European Central Bank, as laid down in Article 127(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, is to maintain price stability within the Eurozone. The Governing Council in October 1998 defined price stability as inflation of under 2%, “a year-on-year increase in the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) for the euro area of below 2%” and added that price stability ”was to be maintained over the medium term”. (Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices) Unlike for example the United States Federal Reserve Bank, the ECB has only one primary objective but this objective has never been defined in statutory law, and the HICP target can be termed ad-hoc.
qas: answers: inflation of under 2%
question: What is price stability defined as?

answers: over the medium term
question: What did the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices state that price stability had to be maintained at?

answers: October 1998
question: When did the Governing Council define price stability?

answers: maintain price stability within the Eurozone
question: What is the primary goal of the ECB?

answers: Article 127(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union
question: Where is the primary mission of the European Central Bank listed?

context: The banks in effect borrow cash and must pay it back; the short durations allow interest rates to be adjusted continually. When the repo notes come due the participating banks bid again. An increase in the quantity of notes offered at auction allows an increase in liquidity in the economy. A decrease has the contrary effect. The contracts are carried on the asset side of the European Central Bank's balance sheet and the resulting deposits in member banks are carried as a liability. In layman terms, the liability of the central bank is money, and an increase in deposits in member banks, carried as a liability by the central bank, means that more money has been put into the economy.[a]
qas: answers: increase in liquidity in the economy
question: What happens when a lot of repo notes come due?

answers: contrary effect
question: What happens whe not as many repo notes are coming due?

answers: more money has been put into the economy
question: What happens when members increase their deposits?

answers: increase in deposits in member banks
question: What is a good way to boost the economy?

answers: on the asset side of the European Central Bank's balance sheet
question: Where are contracts recorded?

context: To qualify for participation in the auctions, banks must be able to offer proof of appropriate collateral in the form of loans to other entities. These can be the public debt of member states, but a fairly wide range of private banking securities are also accepted. The fairly stringent membership requirements for the European Union, especially with regard to sovereign debt as a percentage of each member state's gross domestic product, are designed to insure that assets offered to the bank as collateral are, at least in theory, all equally good, and all equally protected from the risk of inflation.
qas: answers: must be able to offer proof of appropriate collateral in the form of loans to other entities
question: How does a bank make sure that they can participate in auctions?

answers: public debt of member states, but a fairly wide range of private banking securities are also accepted
question: What kind of proof is acceptable for participation in auctions?

answers: all equally good, and all equally protected from the risk of inflation
question: What should all assets offered up as collateral be?

answers: sovereign debt
question: What must be a part of a states Gross Domestic Product in order for them to be considered for particpation in auctions?

context: The Executive Board is responsible for the implementation of monetary policy (defined by the Governing Council) and the day-to-day running of the bank. It can issue decisions to national central banks and may also exercise powers delegated to it by the Governing Council. It is composed of the President of the Bank (currently Mario Draghi), the Vice-President (currently Vitor Constâncio) and four other members. They are all appointed for non-renewable terms of eight years. They are appointed "from among persons of recognised standing and professional experience in monetary or banking matters by common accord of the governments of the Member States at the level of Heads of State or Government, on a recommendation from the Council, after it has consulted the European Parliament and the Governing Council of the ECB". The Executive Board normally meets every Tuesday.
qas: answers: The Executive Board
question: Who is responsible for overseeing all monetary policy?

answers: Mario Draghi
question: Who is the current president of the ECB?

answers: Vitor Constâncio
question: Who is the Vice-President of The European Central Bank?

answers: four
question: Along with the President and Vice President, how many other members make up the Executive Board?

answers: non-renewable terms of eight years
question: For how long are the other members of the Executive Board appointed?

context: José Manuel González-Páramo, a Spanish member of the Executive Board since June 2004, was due to leave the board in early June 2012 and no replacement had been named as of late May 2012. The Spanish had nominated Barcelona-born Antonio Sáinz de Vicuña, an ECB veteran who heads its legal department, as González-Páramo's replacement as early as January 2012 but alternatives from Luxembourg, Finland, and Slovenia were put forward and no decision made by May. After a long political battle, Luxembourg's Yves Mersch, was appointed as González-Páramo's replacement.
qas: answers: Antonio Sáinz de Vicuña
question: Who did the Spanish want to take José Manuel González-Páramo's seat on the board?

answers: Luxembourg's Yves Mersch
question: Who was ulitmately named as González-Páramo's replacement?

answers: June 2012
question: When was González-Páramo's supposed to leave his seat on the board?

answers: June 2004
question: When did González-Páramo take his seat on the Executive Board?

answers: ECB veteran who heads its legal department
question: Why did the Spanish think that Vicuña would be a suitable replacement for González-Páramo?

context: The Supervisory Board meets twice a month to discuss, plan and carry out the ECB’s supervisory tasks. It proposes draft decisions to the Governing Council under the non-objection procedure. It is composed of Chair (appointed for a non-renewable term of five years), Vice-Chair (chosen from among the members of the ECB's Executive Board) four ECB representatives and representatives of national supervisors. If the national supervisory authority designated by a Member State is not a national central bank (NCB), the representative of the competent authority can be accompanied by a representative from their NCB. In such cases, the representatives are together considered as one member for the purposes of the voting procedure.
qas: answers: discuss, plan and carry out the ECB’s supervisory tasks
question: What does the Supervisory Board discuss at it's meetings?

answers: appointed for a non-renewable term of five years
question: How long is the term for the Chairman of the Supervisory Board?

answers: chosen from among the members of the ECB's Executive Board
question: How long is the term for Vice-Chair of the Supervisory Board?

answers: four ECB representatives and representatives of national supervisors
question: Besides the Chair and Vice-Chair, who else is on the Supervisory Board?

answers: the representative of the competent authority can be accompanied by a representative from their NCB
question: What happens if the national supervisory authority designated by a Member State is not a national central bank?

context: Although the ECB is governed by European law directly and thus not by corporate law applying to private law companies, its set-up resembles that of a corporation in the sense that the ECB has shareholders and stock capital. Its capital is five billion euros which is held by the national central banks of the member states as shareholders. The initial capital allocation key was determined in 1998 on the basis of the states' population and GDP, but the key is adjustable. Shares in the ECB are not transferable and cannot be used as collateral.
qas: answers: European law
question: What governs the ECB?

answers: shareholders and stock capital
question: How does the ECB mimic a corporation?

answers: five billion euros
question: How much does the ECB have as capital?

answers: the national central banks of the member states as shareholders
question: Who holds the ECB's capital?

answers: the basis of the states' population and GDP
question: What determined the ECB's initial capital?

context: The internal working language of the ECB is generally English, and press conferences are usually held in English. External communications are handled flexibly: English is preferred (though not exclusively) for communication within the ESCB (i.e. with other central banks) and with financial markets; communication with other national bodies and with EU citizens is normally in their respective language, but the ECB website is predominantly English; official documents such as the Annual Report are in the official languages of the EU.
qas: answers: English
question: What language does the ECB generally use?

answers: normally in their respective language
question: When in communication with other nationalities, what language is generally used?

answers: English
question: What language is the ECB website run in?

answers: the official languages of the EU
question: How are the languages of official documents handled?

context: The independence of the ECB is instrumental in maintaining price stability. Not only must the bank not seek influence, but EU institutions and national governments are bound by the treaties to respect the ECB's independence. To offer some accountability, the ECB is bound to publish reports on its activities and has to address its annual report to the European Parliament, the European Commission, the Council of the European Union and the European Council. The European Parliament also gets to question and then issue its opinion on candidates to the executive board.
qas: answers: independence
question: WHat is the biggest factor in the ECB maintaining price stability?

answers: The European Parliament
question: Who gets to interview and question prospective board members?

answers: bound by the treaties
question: Why do EU institutions and national governments have to respect the independence of the ECB?

answers: bound to publish reports on its activities and has to address its annual report to the European Parliament
question: How is the ECB held accountable for it's actions?

context: From late 2009 a handful of mainly southern eurozone member states started being unable to repay their national Euro-denominated government debt or to finance the bail-out of troubled financial sectors under their national supervision without the assistance of third parties. This so-called European debt crisis began after Greece's new elected government stopped masking its true indebtedness and budget deficit and openly communicated the imminent danger of a Greek sovereign default. Seeing a sovereign default in the eurozone as a shock, the general public, international and European institutions, and the financial community started to intensively reassess the economic situation and creditworthiness of eurozone states. Those eurozone states being assessed as not financially sustainable enough on their current path, faced waves of credit rating downgrades and rising borrowing costs including increasing interest rate spreads. As a consequence, the ability of these states to borrow new money to further finance their budget deficits or to refinance existing unsustainable debt levels was strongly reduced.
qas: answers: 2009
question: When did the European debt Crisis begin?

answers: the ability of these states to borrow new money to further finance their budget deficits or to refinance existing unsustainable debt levels was strongly reduced
question: What did the eurozone states that were thought to not be able to repay their debt face as a consequence?

answers: Greece
question: Which country was the first to be at risk for soverign default?

answers: new elected government
question: Who brought Greece's financial crisis to the forefront?

answers: its true indebtedness and budget deficit
question: What had Greece's previous government been hiding?

context: There is also a widespread view[vague][who?] that giving much more financial support to continuously cover the debt crisis or allow even higher budget deficits or debt levels would discourage the crisis states to implement necessary reforms to regain their competitiveness.[citation needed] There has also been a reluctance[citation needed] of financially stable eurozone states like Germany[citation needed] to further circumvent the no-bailout clause in the EU contracts and to generally take on the burden of financing or guaranteeing the debts of financially unstable or defaulting eurozone countries.[citation needed]
qas: answers: financially stable eurozone states like Germany
question: Which countries didn't want to go around the bail-out clause and have to shoulder the burden of backing the defaulters debts.

answers: discourage the crisis states to implement necessary reforms to regain their competitiveness
question: What do most see raising the debt celing as doing?

answers: giving much more financial support to continuously cover the debt crisis or allow even higher budget deficits or debt levels
question: What could keep the crisis states from trying to stand on their own?

context: This has led to public discussions if Greece, Portugal, and even Italy would be better off leaving the eurozone to regain economical and financial stability if they would not implement reforms to strengthen their competitiveness as part of the eurozone in time. Greece had the greatest need for reforms but also most problems to implement those, so the Greek exit, also called "Grexit", has been widely discussed. Germany, as a large and financially stable state being in the focus to be asked to guarantee or repay other states debt, has never pushed those exits. Their position is to keep Greece within the eurozone, but not at any cost. If the worst comes to the worst, priority should be given to the euro's stability.
qas: answers: Grexit
question: What term was coined when Greece left the eurozone?

answers: If the worst comes to the worst, priority should be given to the euro's stability.
question: What is Germany's position on wether or not Greece should be in the eurozone?

answers: never pushed those exits
question: As one of the financial powers, has Germany ever tried to force the crisis states into leaving the eurozone?

answers: Greece
question: Which eurozone country has the biggest need for financial reform?

context: However, if the debt rescheduling causes losses on loans held by European banks, it weakens the private banking system, which then puts pressure on the central bank to come to the aid of those banks. Private-sector bond holders are an integral part of the public and private banking system. Another possible response is for wealthy member countries to guarantee or purchase the debt of countries that have defaulted or are likely to default. This alternative requires that the tax revenues and credit of the wealthy member countries be used to refinance the previous borrowing of the weaker member countries, and is politically controversial.
qas: answers: if the debt rescheduling causes losses on loans held by European banks
question: What would cause the private banking system to weaken?

answers: wealthy member countries
question: Who purchases the debt of countries that cannot repay and are in danger of default?

answers: pressure on the central bank to come to the aid of those banks
question: What happens when the private banking system is weakened?

answers: tax revenues and credit of the wealthy member countries
question: What is to be used to guarantee the debtors repayment, by the banks assuming their debt?

answers: is politically controversial
question: Is using the tax revenues and credit of the more stable banks to bail out the ones in danger of default an accepted practice?

context: In contrast to the Fed, the ECB normally does not buy bonds outright. The normal procedure used by the ECB for manipulating the money supply has been via the so-called refinancing facilities. In these facilities, bonds are not purchased but used in reverse transactions: repurchase agreements, or collateralised loans. These two transactions are similar, i.e. bonds are used as collaterals for loans, the difference being of legal nature. In the repos the ownership of the collateral changes to the ECB until the loan is repaid.
qas: answers: ECB
question: Who retains ownership of the collateral until the debt is paid?

answers: refinancing facilities
question: Since the ECB doesn't buy bonds outright, how are they used?

answers: repurchase agreements, or collateralised loans
question: What is the manner in which bonds are used at refinancing facilities?

answers: the Fed
question: Who buys the bonds instead of using them in reverse transactions?

context: This changed with the recent sovereign-debt crisis. The ECB always could, and through the late summer of 2011 did, purchase bonds issued by the weaker states even though it assumes, in doing so, the risk of a deteriorating balance sheet. ECB buying focused primarily on Spanish and Italian debt. Certain techniques can minimise the impact. Purchases of Italian bonds by the central bank, for example, were intended to dampen international speculation and strengthen portfolios in the private sector and also the central bank.
qas: answers: Spanish and Italian
question: What debt did the ECB focus on abtaining?

answers: a deteriorating balance sheet
question: What risk is assumed when the ECB purchases bonds from weaker states?

answers: intended to dampen international speculation and strengthen portfolios in the private sector and also the central bank
question: Why were italian bonds purchased by the ECB?

answers: Purchases of Italian bonds by the central bank
question: What was something used to minimize the impact of the soverign-debt crisis?

context: On the other hand, certain financial techniques can reduce the impact of such purchases on the currency. One is sterilisation, in which highly valued assets are sold at the same time that the weaker assets are purchased, which keeps the money supply neutral. Another technique is simply to accept the bad assets as long-term collateral (as opposed to short-term repo swaps) to be held until their market value stabilises. This would imply, as a quid pro quo, adjustments in taxation and expenditure in the economies of the weaker states to improve the perceived value of the assets.
qas: answers: highly valued assets are sold at the same time that the weaker assets are purchased
question: How does sterilisation help to keep the money flow even?

answers: long-term collateral
question: What can a state do with bad assets, rather than cashing them in directly?

answers: adjustments in taxation and expenditure in the economies
question: How can weaker states improve the surface value of their assets?

context: As of 18 June 2012, the ECB in total had spent €212.1bn (equal to 2.2% of the Eurozone GDP) for bond purchases covering outright debt, as part of its Securities Markets Programme (SMP) running since May 2010. On 6 September 2012, the ECB announced a new plan for buying bonds from eurozone countries. The duration of the previous SMP was temporary, while the Outright Monetary Transactions (OMT) programme has no ex-ante time or size limit. On 4 September 2014, the bank went further by announcing it would buy bonds and other debt instruments primarily from banks in a bid to boost the availability of credit for businesses.
qas: answers: €212.1bn
question: By 2012, how much did the ECB spend in covering bad debt?

answers: Outright Monetary Transactions
question: How does the ECB plan to increase the available credit for businesses?

answers: no ex-ante time or size limit
question: What is the duration of the Outright Monetary Transactions program?

answers: 6 September 2012
question: When was the new idea for the purchasing of eurozone bonds announced?

answers: temporary
question: How long was the duration of the Securities Markets Programme to last?

context: Rescue operations involving sovereign debt have included temporarily moving bad or weak assets off the balance sheets of the weak member banks into the balance sheets of the European Central Bank. Such action is viewed as monetisation and can be seen as an inflationary threat, whereby the strong member countries of the ECB shoulder the burden of monetary expansion (and potential inflation) to save the weak member countries. Most central banks prefer to move weak assets off their balance sheets with some kind of agreement as to how the debt will continue to be serviced. This preference has typically led the ECB to argue that the weaker member countries must:
qas: answers: temporarily moving bad or weak assets
question: What can be shuffeled around during a soverign debt crisis to mitigate the damage?

answers: the balance sheets of the European Central Bank
question: Where do bad and weak assets get moved in times of soverign debt crisis?

answers: monetisation
question: What is shuffling around bad or weak debts from a weaker eurozone member to the ECB known as?

answers: inflationary threat
question: What is monetisation usually viewed as?

answers: move weak assets off their balance sheets
question: If the central banks can come to an agreement with the eurozone member about the continued repayment of the debt, what happens to the bad or weak debt?

context: The European Central Bank had stepped up the buying of member nations debt. In response to the crisis of 2010, some proposals have surfaced for a collective European bond issue that would allow the central bank to purchase a European version of US Treasury bills. To make European sovereign debt assets more similar to a US Treasury, a collective guarantee of the member states' solvency would be necessary.[b] But the German government has resisted this proposal, and other analyses indicate that "the sickness of the euro" is due to the linkage between sovereign debt and failing national banking systems. If the European central bank were to deal directly with failing banking systems sovereign debt would not look as leveraged relative to national income in the financially weaker member states.
qas: answers: the sickness of the euro
question: What is being caused by links between soverign debt and failing national banks?

answers: the German government
question: Which country has been resistant to attempts to make the soverign debt assets more like the U.S. Treasury?

answers: The European Central Bank
question: Who began to increase their coverage of weaker debts?

answers: a collective guarantee of the member states' solvency
question: What would have to happen to make European sovereign debt assets more like what is found in the U.S. Treasury?

answers: the crisis of 2010
question: Why did propsals about making the European sovereign debt assets more like the US Treasury?

context: The bank must also co-operate within the EU and internationally with third bodies and entities. Finally, it contributes to maintaining a stable financial system and monitoring the banking sector. The latter can be seen, for example, in the bank's intervention during the subprime mortgage crisis when it loaned billions of euros to banks to stabilise the financial system. In December 2007, the ECB decided in conjunction with the Federal Reserve System under a programme called Term auction facility to improve dollar liquidity in the eurozone and to stabilise the money market.
qas: answers: loaned billions of euros to banks
question: What did the ECB do to help stabilise the financial system during the subprime mortgage crisis?

answers: to stabilise the financial system
question: Why did the ECB intervene during the subprime mortgage crisis?

answers: Federal Reserve System
question: Who decided, along with the ECB, to use Term auction to help stabilize the financial crisis and improve dollar liquidity?

answers: contributes to maintaining a stable financial system and monitoring the banking sector
question: Besides cooperating with other financial institutions, how does the ECB help to maintain stability?

answers: December 2007
question: When did the ECB and Federal Rserve decide to collaborate on Term auction facility?

context: In central banking, the privileged status of the central bank is that it can make as much money as it deems needed. In the United States Federal Reserve Bank, the Federal Reserve buys assets: typically, bonds issued by the Federal government. There is no limit on the bonds that it can buy and one of the tools at its disposal in a financial crisis is to take such extraordinary measures as the purchase of large amounts of assets such as commercial paper. The purpose of such operations is to ensure that adequate liquidity is available for functioning of the financial system.
qas: answers: it can make as much money as it deems needed
question: What is a perk of the central bank?

answers: bonds issued by the Federal government
question: What kinds of assets does the US Federal Reserve buy?

answers: commercial paper
question: What kind of asset will the Federal Reserve purchase in mass quantities at a time of crisis?

answers: to ensure that adequate liquidity is available for functioning
question: What is the purpose of buying commercial paper in a time of financial crisis?

context: Think-tanks such as the World Pensions Council have also argued that European legislators have pushed somewhat dogmatically for the adoption of the Basel II recommendations, adopted in 2005, transposed in European Union law through the Capital Requirements Directive (CRD), effective since 2008. In essence, they forced European banks, and, more importantly, the European Central Bank itself e.g. when gauging the solvency of financial institutions, to rely more than ever on standardised assessments of credit risk marketed by two non-European private agencies: Moody's and S&P.
qas: answers: Moody's and S&P
question: Which agencies have became the authority on assessing the risk of financial institutions?

answers: 2005
question: When was Basel II adopted?

answers: the Basel II recommendations
question: What said that agencies had to start using Moody's and S&P to assess financial institutions?

answers: 2008
question: Since when have the Basel II recommendations been in effect?

context: The bank is based in Frankfurt, the largest financial centre in the Eurozone. Its location in the city is fixed by the Amsterdam Treaty. The bank moved to new purpose-built headquarters in 2014 which were designed a Vienna-based architectural office named Coop Himmelbau. The building is approximately 180 metres (591 ft) tall and will be accompanied with other secondary buildings on a landscaped site on the site of the former wholesale market in the eastern part of Frankfurt am Main. The main construction began in October 2008, and it was expected that the building will become an architectural symbol for Europe. While it was designed to accommodate double the number of staff who operate in the former Eurotower, that building has been retained since the ECB took responsibility for banking supervision and more space was hence required.
qas: answers: Frankfurt
question: Where is the European Central bank located?

answers: Amsterdam Treaty
question: What decided where the bank was to be located?

answers: 2014
question: When did the bank move to it's new headquarters?

answers: the former wholesale market
question: What previously stood where the bank is now?

answers: October 2008
question: When did construction of the new bank begin?

context: On 21 December 2011 the bank instituted a programme of making low-interest loans with a term of three years (36 months) and 1% interest to European banks accepting loans from the portfolio of the banks as collateral. Loans totalling €489.2 bn (US$640 bn) were announced. The loans were not offered to European states, but government securities issued by European states would be acceptable collateral as would mortgage-backed securities and other commercial paper that can be demonstrated to be secure. The programme was announced on 8 December 2011 but observers were surprised by the volume of the loans made when it was implemented. Under its LTRO it loaned €489bn to 523 banks for an exceptionally long period of three years at a rate of just one percent. The by far biggest amount of €325bn was tapped by banks in Greece, Ireland, Italy and Spain. This way the ECB tried to make sure that banks have enough cash to pay off €200bn of their own maturing debts in the first three months of 2012, and at the same time keep operating and loaning to businesses so that a credit crunch does not choke off economic growth. It also hoped that banks would use some of the money to buy government bonds, effectively easing the debt crisis.
qas: answers: Greece, Ireland, Italy and Spain
question: After the loan program was announced, which countries borrowed the most?

answers: easing the debt crisis
question: What would happen if some of the banks were to begin buying govenrment bonds?

answers: €200bn
question: How much does the ECB have to have to pay off it's own debts?

answers: keep operating and loaning to businesses
question: How do you prevent a credit bottleneck?

context: The ECB's first supplementary longer-term refinancing operation (LTRO) with a six-month maturity was announced March 2008. Previously the longest tender offered was three months. It announced two 3-month and one 6-month full allotment of Long Term Refinancing Operations (LTROs). The first tender was settled 3 April, and was more than four times oversubscribed. The €25 billion auction drew bids amounting to €103.1 billion, from 177 banks. Another six-month tender was allotted on 9 July, again to the amount of €25 billion. The first 12-month LTRO in June 2009 had close to 1100 bidders.
qas: answers: longer-term refinancing operation
question: What is an LTRO?

answers: six-month
question: How long was the time to maturity on an LTRO?

answers: March 2008
question: When were the first supplemental LTRO's offered?

answers: three months
question: How long had the time to maturity been previously?

answers: close to 1100 bidders
question: How many bids were recorded at the auction for the first 12 month LRTO?