ECB dials back pandemic support, holds rates at record lows

[FRANKFURT] The European Central Bank (ECB)said on Thursday (Dec 16) that it will end its 1.85 trillion euro (S$2.9 trillion) pandemic-era bond purchasing programme (PEPP) in March but ramp up a pre-crisis asset buying scheme to ease the transition and bolster the eurozone economy.

The ECB will wind down the pace of PEPP purchases in the first quarter of 2022 and "will discontinue net asset purchases under the PEPP at the end of March 2022", it said. A pre-pandemic asset purchasing scheme will be maintained and boosted from 20 billion euros a month currently to 40 billion euros in the second quarter.

As expected, the Frankfurt institution kept interest rates at their current historic lows.

AFP