Monetary Policy

Every Deposit Facility Rate (DFR) decision in our dataset, with a snapshot of inflation and the yield curve at each decision moment.

About the DFR. The Deposit Facility Rate is what banks earn on overnight deposits parked at the ECB. Since 2014 it has been the rate markets watch most closely — when liquidity is abundant, banks would rather earn the DFR than lend interbank, so the DFR effectively becomes the floor for short-term euro rates. The ECB also sets two companion rates (MRR and MLFR) but those are not yet covered in this dashboard's seed data.

Data note. This page covers ECB Governing Council decisions from Jul 2022 to Mar 2025 (16 decisions, 1 rate type seeded). The decision history is sourced from a hand-curated seed CSV — newer decisions and the MRR/MLFR rate types will appear once the seed is updated (tracked in FUTURE.local.md).

Latest decision

The most recent decision was a Cut of 25 bps on the deposit_facility (2.75% → 2.5%) on 06 Mar 2025, when headline inflation was running at 2.2%.

Recent decisions

Decision history

Reading this chart. Each bar is one ECB decision. Above zero = a hike, below zero = a cut. The cluster of large positive bars in 2022–23 was the steepest tightening cycle in ECB history; the run of negative bars from late 2024 onward is the disinflation-driven cutting cycle.

Path of policy rates over time

Reading the levels chart. The DFR is currently at 2.5%. Across the full series, it ranged from a low of 0% in Jul 2022 to a high of 4% in Sep 2023.

Notice the long flatline at or below zero from 2014 to 2022 — that was the negative-rates era, an unprecedented experiment that ended when post-COVID inflation forced the ECB to hike. The 2022–23 climb to 4.00% was the fastest tightening in ECB history.

Full decision timeline

Every decision with the macro snapshot at that moment.

Related

• ← Back to overview
• Inflation — what drove these decisions
• Currency & external — how the euro responded
• Pipeline Health — data freshness and sources