Euro zone banks to repay another 36.6 billion euros in ECB loans

Euro zone banks will repay another 36.6 billion euros of ECB loans ahead of schedule, the European Central Bank said on Friday, a small move that may still help the ECB fight inflation by sucking cash out of the financial system. The latest repayment of the ECB’s Targeted Long-Term Refinancing Operation (TLTRO) would bring the total outstanding TLTRO loans to about 1.22 trillion euros, still more than half of last autumn’s level. The ECB allowed banks to repay TLTRO loans early to remove some of the monetary stimulus of the past decade and lower interest rates on deposits after sharply raising rates. Friday’s repayment will be settled on February 22.