Main refinancing rate (MRO)
Definition · Level 8 · Rates, FX & macro
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The rate on the European Central Bank’s (ECB) weekly loans to banks, 15 bp above the deposit rate since September 2024. The marginal lending rate, for overnight loans, is a further 25 bp higher.
Example
Deposit rate 2.50% → main refinancing 2.65% → marginal lending 2.90%.
Rules and market figures change: check the current ones before relying on this (written as of 2026-09).
Where Tradecraft teaches it
Level 8 · Rates, FX & macro, in the lesson “The ECB, €STR and Euribor”: The ECB’s three rates, the overnight benchmark, the term rate and the futures that trade it.
Related terms
- Deposit facility rateThe key policy rate of the European Central Bank (ECB): what banks earn on cash left overnight at the ECB, so they will not lend for much less.
- ECBEuropean Central Bank: sets euro-area monetary policy from Frankfurt, targeting 2% inflation over the medium term.
- EuriborEuro Interbank Offered Rate: a term rate (1 week to 12 months) reported by a panel of banks for unsecured euro loans and set daily by the European…
- Euribor futureA contract on the three-month Euribor rate: €1 million notional, priced as 100 minus the rate, so one basis point is worth €25.
- HICPHarmonised Index of Consumer Prices: the consumer inflation measure compiled by Eurostat for the euro area, on which the European Central Bank’s 2%…
- €STREuro short-term rate: the overnight unsecured rate euro-area banks pay to borrow wholesale, published by the European Central Bank (ECB) every…