ECB adds another half trillion in QE, even as Italy eyes debt cancellation
The central bank is in effect holding the fort through the worst of the crisis and shielding vulnerable states from markets until late 2021
10 December 2020 • 10:07pm
The ECB s Christine Large is watching the surging euro very carefully but she cannot to much about it
The European Central Bank has stepped up pandemic emergency stimulus by another €500bn to counter a double-dip recession, but stopped short of ‘shock-and-awe’ measures to reverse a corrosive slide into deflation.
Bond purchases will be stretched out to 2022, clearing the way for the ECB to mop up three quarters of all fresh debt issuance by eurozone governments next year. This further obliterates the line between fiscal and monetary policy, and pushes the ECB’s balance sheet beyond 70pc of GDP.