Six people said the European Central Bank is considering raising the minimum reserve banks must hold in non-interest-bearing accounts from 1% to 2% of customer deposits and other funding sources. The move is aimed at cutting the ECB’s interest expenses from paying interest on excess deposits, absorbing surplus liquidity and easing side-effects of its anti-inflation policy. Officials said it would help cash-rich national central banks such as Germany’s Bundesbank reduce losses tied to interest pa

Six people said the European Central Bank is considering raising the minimum reserve banks must hold in non-interest-bearing accounts from 1% to 2% of customer deposits and other funding sources. The move is aimed at cutting the ECB’s interest expenses from paying interest on excess deposits, absorbing surplus liquidity and easing side-effects of its anti-inflation policy. Officials said it would help cash-rich national central banks such as Germany’s Bundesbank reduce losses tied to interest paid on deposits that exceed legal requirements. Excess deposits have swelled to trillions of euros since the ECB’s bond-buying programmes. The proposal is under early internal discussion and will be revisited in this year’s framework review; a decision is expected before autumn and the Governing Council has not formally debated it.