In the Euro Area, the marginal lending facility aims to provide overnight liquidity, signal the general stance of monetary policy and normally provides a ceiling for the overnight market interest rate. This facility is available to eligible counterparties on their own initiative, subject to their fulfilment of certain operational access conditions. Counterparties can use the marginal lending facility to obtain overnight liquidity from the national central banks against eligible assets. Under normal circumstances, there are no credit limits or other restrictions on counterparties' access to the facility, apart from the requirement to present sufficient underlying assets. The marginal lending facility is administered in a decentralised manner by the national central banks.
