Bank of England to suspend Liquidity Facility in Euros from 1 October 2021

News release

The Bank of England, in co-ordination with the European Central Bank, is today announcing that in light of sustained improvements in funding market conditions it will suspend the Liquidity Facility in Euros (LiFE) at the end of September 2021. The final operation is scheduled to take place on 29 September 2021, but the facility could be rapidly reactivated at any stage if justified by market conditions.

The Bank of England, in co-ordination with the European Central Bank, stands ready to re-adjust the provision of euro liquidity, including restarting LiFE, as warranted by market conditions. The swap line between the Bank of England and the European Central Bank is an available standing facility and serves as an important liquidity backstop to ease strains in global funding markets, thereby helping to mitigate the effects of such strains on the supply of credit to households and businesses, both domestically and abroad.

This operational change will be effective as of 1 October 2021. The auction schedule until 29 September 2021, as already published, remains unchanged.^{footnote [1]}