European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde addresses a news conference on the outcome of the meeting of the Governing Council in Frankfurt, Germany, January 23, 2020.
Ralph Orlowski | Reuters
The European Central Bank (ECB) announced Thursday that it will increase its Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme (PEPP) by 600 billion euros ($672 billion), as it attempts to bolster the region’s economy following the coronavirus crisis.
The amount comes on top of 750 billion euros of government bond purchases that the ECB announced in March, taking the total to 1.35 trillion euros. The central bank also said Thursday that the duration of its crisis bond-buying program would be extended from the end of 2020 until June 2021, or until the bank believes the crisis is over.
Since it was announced in March, the emergency program has helped keep borrowing costs lower for countries in the euro zone — the 19-member region which uses the euro as its common currency.
Thursday’s announcement contributed to a further reduction in borrowing costs, with the yield on Italy’s 10-year government paper dropping from session highs above 1.56% to 1.40% shortly after the decision was published. There have been similar moves on Greek, Portuguese and Spanish debt.
The euro turned positive on the news to trade about 0.25% higher against the U.S. dollar shortly after the decision.
Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Berenberg bank, said in an email: “The even more aggressive monetary policy stance helps to contain the downside risks. In addition, the strong signal can bolster the nascent rebound in the confidence of households and companies that the worst will soon be over.”
The central bank’s emergency package, which also includes measures to boost bank lending, are in addition to others steps taken prior to the pandemic to boost low inflation levels in the region. This includes monthly purchases of 20 billion euros in government bonds as part of a quantitative easing plan announced in 2019.
The ECB also announced on Thursday that it had decided to keep its interest rates unchanged, as expected. The rate on the main refinancing operations, marginal lending facility and deposit facility stand at 0%, 0.25% and -0.50% respectively.
It comes after data revealed the severity of the impact of the coronavirus crisis in Europe. The unemployment rate in the euro zone rose to 7.3% in April, from 7.1% in March, as lockdown restrictions hit jobs.
Business activity in the region has recovered slightly after plunging to record lows earlier this year. Manufacturing and services activity hit a three-month high in May, after some economies began to reopen. However, there are still concerns around the overall economic performance in the second quarter of 2020.
The ECB had previously warned that the euro area economy could contract as much as 15% in its worst-case scenario due to the coronavirus crisis.
