The gift that keeps on giving: Banks’ windfall profits as a consequence of ECB rate hikes
The ECB is expected to pay around €40 billion in net interest income to banks on the overnight deposits that they keep with the central bank. This estimated figure will jump to €53.7 billion if the ECB decides to increase the interest rate on its deposit facility (DF) from the current 1.5% to 2% on December 15. France and Germany expected to profit the most in absolute terms. We provide the implications of these purely accounting-induced profits for the wider banking system and the real economy.