Definition: Foreign exchange swap

Category: ECB terminology

Simultaneous spot and forward transactions exchanging one currency against another. The Eurosystem can execute open market monetary policy operations in the form of foreign exchange swaps, where the national central banks (or the European Central Bank) buy or sell euro spot against a foreign currency and at the same time sell or buy them back in a forward transaction. http://www.ecb.europa.eu/home/glossary/html/glossa.en.html