ECB to review bond-buying tool launched in response to pandemic

The Financial Times reported on Sunday that the European Central Bank (ECB) will review its emergency bond purchase scheme that was introduced in response to the coronavirus crisis in March.

The FT was citing two of ECB’s governing council members when it explained that the questions for the review would be to consider how long the Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme (PEPP) should continue.

The article also explained that there will be questions asked as to whether some of the ECB’s extra flexibility should be transferred to the ECB’s longer running asset-purchase schemes.

Markets implications

The ECB launched this scheme in March and then later increased its size to 1.35 trillion euros ($1.60 trillion) in June.    

The euro has seen over a 10% increase in value vs the greenback since late May’s lows and has reached the highest level since April 2018.

The reluctance of ECB President Lagarde to verbally intervene against the strength of the single currency has helped it to prevent a clean break below critical support structure.

EUR/USD has had a lot to digest in the past couple of weeks but it is a little clearer that the ECB could become more concerned about the impact of currency strength if inflation measures remain subdued. 

Whether the ECB will be in a position to taper depends on the coronavirus spread which is currently doing so rapidly in a second wave. 

• The Chart of the Week: EUR/USD bears await break of critical support