Emergency liquidity assistance (ELA)

Emergency liquidity assistance (ELA) is a form of exceptional financing granted to solvent financial institutions (banks, as a rule) facing temporary liquidity needs.

These operations allow Banca d'Italia to act, on a discretionary basis, as a lender of last resort, providing temporary loans against adequate collateral. The exceptional financing disbursed by Banca d'Italia can take the form of an injection of liquidity or of collateralized securities lending.