Euribor bank-to-bank lending rates were unchanged on Friday after the European Central Bank said a day earlier its monetary stance will remain accommodative. The ECB kept its main refinancing rate on hold at a record-low level of 0.75 percent last week, when ECB President Mario Draghi played down fears of Italy's fractured election causing widespread economic uncertainty and delaying recovery.
Draghi also poured cold water on the possibility that the ECB could take the interest rate on its deposit facility into negative territory, saying that such a move could have "serious" unintended consequences. On Friday, the three-month Euribor rate, traditionally the main gauge of unsecured bank-to-bank lending, remained unchanged at 0.204 percent. The six-month rate held steady at 0.326 percent, while the one-week rate edged up to 0.079 percent from 0.078 percent.
The overnight Eonia rate remained at 0.068 percent. Dollar-priced bank-to-bank Euribor lending rates were mixed, with three-month rates steady at 0.49500 percent and one-week rates rising to 0.30400 percent from 0.30300 percent. Excess liquidity in the euro zone banking system is at 397 billion euros ($508 billion), above the lowest level since the ECB started its 3-year liquidity operations, but still high enough to keep market rates below the ECB's refinancing rate.
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