Participation in the ECBS

The ESCB is comprised of the European Central Banks (ECB) and the national central banks of all EU Member States (NCBs). The principal objective, tasks and functions of the ESCB are set in the Protocol on the Statute of the ESCB and of the ECB of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (Statute). The main objective of the ESCB is to maintain price stability. Its primary tasks are to define and implement the monetary policy of the European Community, conduct foreign currency operations consistent with the provisions of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, hold and manage the official foreign reserves of the Member States and promote the smooth operation of the payment system.

The ECB ensures the implementation of the ESCB tasks through its own activities or via the NCBs. The ESCB is governed by the decision making bodies of the ECB: the Governing Council and the Executive Board. The General Council is a decision making body of the ECB which will function for as long as there are EU Member states which which have not yet adopted the euro. Chairman of Lietuvos bankas participates in the work of the ECB General Council.

Issues within the competence of the General Council are dealt with in the meetings of the ESCB committees which assist the ECB decision making bodies in performing their tasks. Experts of Lietuvos bankas participate in the work of 12 ECB committees: Accounting and Monetary Income Committee, Banking Supervision Committee, Banknote Committee, Eurosystem/ESCB Communications Committee, Information Technology Committee, Internal Auditors Committee, International Relations Committee, Legal Committee, Market Operations Committee, Monetary Policy Committee, Payment and Settlement Systems Committee and Statistics Committee as well as in the work of the Human Resources Conference.

Lietuvos bankas is a holder of the subscribed capital of the ECB. Following the increase of the ECB capital from 15 December 2010 to EUR 10,760,652,402.58 Lithuania’s share in the subscribed capital of the ECB accounts to 0.4256%, i.e. EUR 45,797,336.63. The non-participating national central banks pay up 3.75 % of the ECB’s subscribed capital. Only the EU national central banks are entitled to subscribe and hold the ECB capital. The ECB capital which is comprised of the shares of national central banks is defined according to the weighting of its respective member States in the population and the GDP of the European Union. The shares assigned to the national central banks must be adjusted every five years as the weightings of both the population and the GDP may change over this period.