recovery. • specifically, we lowered all key interest rates further. our main refinancing rate now stands at 0. 15 %. accordingly, our deposit facility rate has been cut to a negative level and now stands at – 0. 10 %. • we will conduct targeted longer - term refinancing operations ( tltros ) as of september 2014. in these operations, banks will be entitled to borrow from the eurosystem, conditional on their lending to the private non - financial sector, with loans to households for house purchase being excluded. • in addition, we are intensifying our work in preparation of possible outright purchases in the market for asset - backed securities ( abss ). • furthermore, we also decided that at least until the end of 2016, we will continue to fully meet the demand of banks for liquidity in our refinancing operations – of course, against adequate collateral. • finally, we have suspended the weekly operations to absorb the liquidity injected under the securities markets programme. we took these decisions to enable our accommodative monetary policy stance to better feed through to the wider economy. weak credit growth in the euro area, particularly to small businesses, has been a major headwind for the recovery. indirectly, it has been a continuous drag on inflation over the recent past. in fact, despite significant reductions in policy interest rates and, overall, more contained macroeconomic risks, bank - intermediated credit growth remains subdued and lending rates for small businesses are well above the levels usually observed in similar phases of the business cycle. to address this challenge, our tltros are tailored to incentivise bank lending to the real economy in the euro area. the tltros will provide long - term funding to participating banks. this should ease their financing costs, allowing banks to pass on such attractive conditions bis central bankers ’ speeches to their customers. this will ease credit conditions and stimulate credit creation. moreover, the growth of our balance sheet as a result of a significant take - up in our tltros will put downward pressure on interest rates in the money markets. this will contribute further to lowering the banking sector ’ s funding costs. however, the tltros will not merely provide long - term funding. the tltros are targeted operations : the stronger the flows of new net lending to non - financial corporations and consumers ( relative to a specified benchmark ), the higher the amount that banks will be permitted to borrow from the

tests be met, a decision to join a successful single currency can be made early in the next parliament. to help with the essential preparations, the chancellor has invited the governor of the bank of england and the heads of the two main bodies representing industry and commerce, and two other ministers, to join him on a standing committee to lead the preparations for emu. 12. in the uk wholesale financial markets, practical preparations are accordingly proceeding apace. 13. we at the bank of england have been taking an active role in helping the uk financial markets to prepare for the euro. we do this because, even though the uk will not be in at the start, it is plain that banks and financial institutions in the uk, in their wholesale business for their corporate and institutional customers, in the uk and overseas, will want to be able to offer the full range of financial facilities in the euro from the outset. they will want to be able to offer their customers deposits and foreign exchange facilities in the euro, lending and borrowing in the euro, hedging and collateral in the euro and financing and settlement facilities. the london markets will need to be able to operate in euro from the outset across the full range of their wholesale activities, and practical preparations are now well advanced to achieve that by january 1999. 14. the bank of england ’ s part in this extensive process of market - wide preparation, besides equipping ourselves internally for operations in the euro, is a co - ordinating one, in three main ways : • first, our job is to ensure that the necessary infrastructure is developed in the uk to allow anyone who wishes to do so to use the euro in wholesale payments and across the financial markets from the first day of emu. • second, we aim to promote discussion between the emi, national central banks and market participants across europe about practical issues on which the market is seeking a degree of coordination. • and third, we provide information : for example, through a quarterly publication on practical issues arising from the introduction of the euro, which is distributed to around 32, 000 recipients, including 4, 000 directly overseas. the next edition will appear shortly, neatly timed for people ’ s christmas reading, and i confidently expect it to be on the best sellers ’ list for the festive season. and following the successful symposium we held early this year, we are planning to hold a further symposium, next january at the bank, on london as the international financial centre for the euro. 15.