Monetary policy decisions

At today's meeting the Governing Council of the ECB reviewed the latest information on the monetary, financial and economic situation in the euro area against the background of its stability-oriented monetary policy strategy. The Governing Council confirmed its earlier assessment that the prospects for price stability remain favourable. Therefore, it decided that for the main refinancing operations to be settled on 24 and 31 March and 7 April 1999 the same conditions will apply as for the main refinancing operations already settled this year, i.e. they will be fixed rate tenders conducted at an interest rate of 3.0%. In addition, the interest rate on the marginal lending facility will continue to be 4.5% and the interest rate on the deposit facility will remain 2.0%.