Three months after approving a Pandemic Emergency Purchase Program (PEPP) for an initial EUR 750 billion in response to the COVID-19 crisis, at its most recent meeting, the European Central Bank (ECB) agreed to expand the program by a further EUR 600 billion.
The ECB packed quite a punch today as it boosted its COVID-19 response strategy with a larger than expected expansion of its QE purchases under the Pandemic Emergency Purchase Program (PEPP), by €600 bn, to a total of €1350 bn and extended the purchase horizon to at least the end of June 2021.
Last Thursday, a day of panic across markets with plummeting stock markets and investors seeking refuge in low-risk assets, and after the World Health Organization had declared COVID-19 a global pandemic, the ECB strengthened its efforts in terms of monetary stimulus in two ways.
Christine Lagarde sets off her mandate at the head of the European Central Bank (ECB) with an ambitious goal: completing a review of the monetary policy — the framework that guides the decisions to fulfill her mandate.
There was much curiosity surrounding Christine Lagarde's first press conference following a meeting of the ECB's Governing Council. This was not so much over the tone of monetary policy—which followed the same lines as in Mario Draghi's era—but over how she would act in a fractured field where some did not welcome her.
Overall, Mrs Lagarde’ first post-meeting press conference went as expected, with an outspoken communication style when talking about different issues not strictly related to monetary policy, and an unchanged line on the monetary policy stance.
The President of the European Central Bank (ECB) will be remembered for a number of things, and one of them is never having raised interest rates during his term, and in fact having lowered them to today's negative levels.
After eight years in office at the European Central Bank (ECB), it is time for Mario Draghi to pass the baton in eurozone monetary policy. Christine Lagarde will become the first woman to head the ECB.