ECB's Villeroy says priority to boost financing for real economy

[PARIS] The European Central Bank's latest monetary easing efforts are aimed in particular at getting banks lending to households and business, ECB governing council member Francois Villeroy de Galhau said on Monday.

New ultra-cheap loans to banks, announced as part of a broader package by the ECB on Thursday, were not intended to offset the cost of negative deposit rates for banks that park cash at the ECB, but rather at encouraging lending, Villeroy said.

"Our priority, and we made a point of it, is financing the real economy," Villeroy said at the presentation of 2015 results of the Bank of France, where he is also the governor.

He added that the ECB's decision to buy corporate bonds alongside government bonds already was an important step in securing companies access to financing.

REUTERS