ECB Loses $1.47bn, Books Third Straight Annual Loss

(FILES) European Central Bank (ECB) President, Christine Lagarde, presents the bank’s 2024 Annual Report to the European Parliament, in Strasbourg, eastern France, on February 10, 2025. (Photo by FREDERICK FLORIN / AFP) The European Central Bank said Thursday it booked its third straight loss in 2025 due to the lingering impact of a record run of interest rate hikes. The ECB lost 1.25 billion euros ($1.47 billion) last year, although this was sharply down from an all-time shortfall of 7.9 billion euros in 2024. Advertisement googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display("div-gpt-ad-1672569656851-0"); }); In 2023 the Frankfurt-based institution reported its first annual loss for nearly two decades, following aggressive rate hikes to tame a surge in inflation sparked by Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine. As well as pushing up borrowing costs for households and firms in the 21-nation euro area, the hikes weighed heavily on the ECB’s own balance sheet. Before kicking off the hiking cycle in 2022, the ECB had kept interest rates at low levels for many years. “The losses since 2022 come after many years of substantial profits and are the result of policy actions” that were necessary to combat inflation, said the central bank. Advertisement googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display("div-gpt-ad-1672569913499-0"); }); READ ALSO: ECB Holds Rates Steady For Fourth Straight Meeting Inflation has now cooled substantially — it was below the ECB’s two-percent target in January — and the central bank has been lowering rates since mid-2024. The impact of reductions will take time to be felt, however. Nevertheless the ECB noted that interest expenses in 2025 were already far lower than in 2024, and said it expected to return to profit this year or next. Advertisement googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display("div-gpt-ad-1672587799169-0"); }); The central bank also stressed it can operate effectively “regardless of any losses”. Addressing the European Parliament Thursday, ECB President Christine Lagarde said the the euro area had faced an “exceptionally challenging environment over recent years, with high inflation affecting both households and firms”. “We can now see, however, that our efforts to bring inflation down have been effective,” she said. Advertisement googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display("div-gpt-ad-1672587060870-0"); }); Join Our Whatsapp Channel To join: Simply click on the link below & turn on notifications to get the latest updates Subscribe to Our Newsletter In This Article: Banking ECB Eurozone More Stories ECB Hits JPMorgan With Central Bank’s Biggest Fine [VIDEO] Rising Loan Defaults: What Banks Don’t Want You To Know – Financial Professional, Abiodun Keripe Paystack Acquires Ladder Microfinance Bank /* * * CONFIGURATION VARIABLES: EDIT BEFORE PASTING INTO YOUR WEBPAGE * * / var disqus_shortname = 'channelstelevision'; // Required - Replace example with your forum shortname / * * DON'T EDIT BELOW THIS LINE * * */ (function() { var dsq = document.createElement('script'); dsq.type = 'text/javascript'; dsq.async = true; dsq.src = '//' + disqus_shortname + '.disqus.com/embed.js'; (document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0] || document.getElementsByTagName('body')[0]).appendChild(dsq); })(); Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.

SOURCE: https://www.channelstv.com/2026/02/26/ecb-loses-1-47bn-books-third-straight-annual-loss/