ECB sets lower PEPP pace
The European Central Bank said on Thursday that it decided to leave key interest rates unchanged and set a “moderately lower pace” for pandemic-related bond-buying.
“Based on a joint assessment of financing conditions and the inflation outlook, the Governing Council judges that favorable financing conditions can be maintained with a moderately lower pace of net asset purchases under the pandemic emergency purchase program (PEPP) than in the previous two quarters,” the ECB said in a statement.
Earlier this year, after the March and June meetings, the ECB decided that purchases under the PEPP in the second and third quarters would be conducted at a significantly higher pace than during the first months of the year.
Thursday’s announcement came as eurozone inflation surged to 3% in August, the highest in 10 years, according to a flash estimate published last week. [Xinhua]
