MONETARY POLICY OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK IN THE CONTEXT OF COUNTERACTION TO CRISES IN THE FINANCIAL MARKET

Abstract

Introduction. During the crisis monetary policy acts as the most important tool of influence on the economy through monetary levers, and therefore the functioning of the central bank serves as the institutional basis and foundation of the entire anti-crisis architecture within the framework of the state economic policy. The emergence of objective limitations to the effectiveness of traditional instruments of monetary regulation determines the need to compensate them with other levers of monetary influence aimed at maintaining proper economic activity and stimulating economic growth. Therefore, it is important to evaluate the work of the European Central Bank as the leading eurozone regulatory institution, whose monetary policy, despite all the problematic aspects, proves the success of its conventional and unconventional instruments. The purpose of the article is to study the experience of the European Central Bank in the construction of an effective mechanism of monetary regulation as an essential component of the state policy to overcome the consequences of crisis on financial markets and stabilize economic and social development. Results. The key aspects of functioning of the European Central Bank as the main eurozone regulator of economic processes are analyzed. The main periods of the implementation of the ECB's monetary policy are considered and systematized, characterizing a sequence of applying certain tools of monetary regulation at each of them and setting priorities for choosing the appropriate goals of monetary influence on the economy. Particularly noted are the trends that emerged during financial crisis and pandemic crisis in the eurozone and determined the need to expand the mandate of the European Central Bank by influencing not only price dynamics, but also maintaining the financial stability of the banking sector and facilitating the functioning of businesses and households. Objective economic preconditions are determined under which the ECB was forced to resort to the use of new instruments of monetary regulation. Conclusions. Based on the experience of the ECB's monetary policy, the need to expand the mandate of monetary regulation and the optimal combination of traditional and non-traditional central bank instruments for the implementation of large-scale measures of financial support for the banking system and the real sector of the economy is substantiated. Perspectives. As an important direction of future scientific researches should be considered the analysis of further ways to expand and optimize the monetary regulation tools at the disposal of central banks in order to successfully counteract the crises in the economy.