FRANKFURT (MNI) – The European Central Bank has abstained from
making bond purchases through its Securities Markets Programme for the
third week in a row, matching its longest period on the sidelines
since the program started in May, the central bank announced on Monday.
The ECB announced that no SMP transactions were settled in the week
ending February 11. The last time the central bank conducted any
additional bond purchases was back in late January, when its buys had
slowed to E146 million.
With the ECB taking yet another breather last week, the total
amount of bond buys to be drained is unchanged at E76.5 billion for the
fifth consecutive week. The ECB will drain that amount in a quick
tender to collect one-week term deposits.
The operation, to be conducted on Tuesday at 10:30 GMT, will be in
the form of a variable-rate tender with a maximum bid rate of 1.00%, the
bank said. The liquidity will be held for one week at the bank as a term
deposit. The fixed-term deposits can be used as collateral in the
Eurosystem’s credit operations.
The central bank also said it intends to hold another
liquidity-absorbing operation next week.
— Frankfurt bureau: +49 69 720 142; email: frankfurt@marketnews.com —
[TOPICS: MGX$$$,M$X$$$,M$$EC$]
