FRANKFURT (MNI) – The ECB reported Friday that E16.009 billion were
borrowed from its overnight marginal lending facility, after the bank
loaned E15.8 bln from the facility on Thursday.

The figures are very high compared to post-crisis norms, which have
shown an average of only about E100 million in borrowing from the
facility.

Some observers had thought that yesterday’s spike might have been a
trader error, but today’s results would suggest otherwise.

Barclays analyst Laurent Fransolet suggested in a recent Financial
Times piece that banks dependent on ECB funding may have shifted from
the central bank’s refinancing operations to the marginal lending
facility. He speculated that this move might have been orchestrated by
the ECB to “clean” the system.

The ECB typically does not comment on its marginal lending
facility.

–Frankfurt bureau, +49-69-720142, frankfurt@marketnews.com

[TOPICS: MT$$$$,M$$EC$,M$$FI$,M$X$$$,MGX$$$]