What is the role of the Central Bank of Malta after the introduction of the euro?
When Malta joined the EU, the Central Bank of Malta became part of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) consisting of the national central banks (NCBs) of all EU Member States and the European Central Bank (ECB). Concurrently, the Central Bank of Malta started participating in the ECB decision-making bodies and the Governor of the Bank became a member of the General Council of the ECB. The Governing Council is empowered to take the most important and strategically significant decisions for the Eurosystem, including the formulation of monetary policy. The functioning of the Eurosystem is such that decisions are taken in a centralised manner, but implemented in a decentralised manner i.e. via national central banks. Market operations are carried out via NCBs in accordance with the ECB guidelines and instructions. The TARGET (Trans-European Automated Real-time Gross settlement Express Transfer) system is also based on the principle of decentralisation. NCBs carry out the majority o
