The European Central Bank (ECB) was founded on 1 June 1998. It became the independent central bank for Europe’s single currency, the euro, which was launched in January 1999. A single currency among a group of countries cannot exist without a common central bank and a common system of central banks. So, the ECB and the European System of Central Banks (ESCB), comprising the ECB and the central banks of all European Union (EU) Member States, were given the mandate to maintain price stability and to safeguard the credibility ofthe euro.
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