ECB Reconfirms 'Very Accommodative' Policy Stance
2021年4月22日 - 06:12PM
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The European Central Bank left its interest rates and asset
purchases unchanged on Thursday, as the resurgence of the
coronavirus infections and continuing lockdowns have damped the
prospects of an economic rebound later this year. The Governing
Council, led by ECB President Christine Lagarde, left key interest
rates unchanged and maintained the size of the pandemic emergency
purchase programme, or PEPP, at EUR 1,850 billion.
The main refi rate was held steady at a record low zero percent
and the deposit rate was kept at -0.50 percent. The lending rate
was held steady at 0.25 percent. Policymakers retained the forward
guidance on interest rates, saying it expects the key ECB interest
rates to remain at their present or lower levels until the
inflation outlook robustly converge to a level sufficiently "close
to, but below, 2 percent".
Asset purchases will continue until at least the end of March
2022 or when the coronavirus crisis phase is over, the bank
reiterated.
Further, the ECB reiterated its stance from March that PEPP
purchases over the current quarter would continue to be conducted
at a significantly higher pace than during the first months of the
year.
"The Governing Council will purchase flexibly according to
market conditions and with a view to preventing a tightening of
financing conditions that is inconsistent with countering the
downward impact of the pandemic on the projected path of
inflation," the bank said in a statement. The bank also maintained
the size of the monthly net purchases under the asset purchase
programme at EUR 20 billion.
Policymakers decided to continue to provide ample liquidity
through refinancing operations, the latest being the third series
of targeted longer-term refinancing operations, or TLTRO III. The
latest operation under TLTRO III registered a high take-up of
funds, the bank noted.
"The Governing Council stands ready to adjust all of its
instruments, as appropriate, to ensure that inflation moves towards
its aim in a sustained manner, in line with its commitment to
symmetry," the ECB said. Capital Economics now expects the weekly
PEPP purchases to continue around the current pace over the next
few months. Jack Allen-Reynolds, an economist at the firm reckoned
that the ECB will persist with negative interest rates and sizeable
monthly asset purchases for a long time. "It will probably allow
Bund yields to rise very gradually as the economy recovers over the
coming years, but they will remain very low by historical
standards," the economist added.
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