{
  "id": 12842695,
  "title": "ECB’s Wunsch pushes back on proposal to increase bank charges",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/08/ecbs-wunsch-pushes-back-on-proposal-to-increase-bank-charges",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-10-08T10:19:05.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Investing.com",
    "slug": "investing-com",
    "url": "https://www.investing.com/news/economy-news/ecbs-wunsch-pushes-back-on-proposal-to-increase-bank-charges-4938168"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "European Central Bank policymaker Pierre Wunsch has expressed concerns over a proposal to raise charges on commercial banks, arguing that it could undermine the credibility of future central bank operations and blur the line between monetary and fiscal policy. The ECB is deliberating on the potential need to require commercial banks to maintain more of their excess liquidity in unremunerated accounts, a move aimed at reducing the ECB's financial losses and tightening financing conditions amid high inflation. Wunsch, who is the chief of Belgium's central bank, stated during a Brussels conference that the rationale behind the proposal is unclear and unconvincing. The European Central Bank already injected trillions of euros into the financial system during the pre-pandemic era when interest rates were at or near zero, and now it faces significant interest charges for depositing this excess liquidity back into its accounts, which has increased financial losses, particularly for the German Bundesbank. Wunsch further suggested that the proposed minimum reserve ratio (MRR) could function as a quasi-fiscal instrument, a domain traditionally reserved for fiscal policy. He emphasized that imposing heavier taxes on banks' income could deter them from participating in future bond purchase schemes, thereby undermining the credibility of central bank operations. The focus on minimum reserve charges has intensified this year due to the ECB's efforts to raise interest rates in order to combat high inflation, which has also elevated national central banks' interest expenses, as there are still over €2.1 trillion of excess liquidity within the financial system.",
  "summary": null,
  "key_points": [
    "ECB policymaker Pierre Wunsch opposes plan to raise bank charges.",
    "Wunsch warns proposal could blur line between monetary and fiscal policy.",
    "Minimum reserve ratio could act as quasi-fiscal instrument."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}