FRANKFURT (MNI) – The European Central Bank made no bond purchases
through its Securities Markets Programme last week, the central bank
announced on Monday.
The lack of purchases settled follows the reduction to E146 million
in bond buys announced in the previous week and marks the first time the
ECB has abstained from market participation since late October.
With the ECB taking a breather last week, the total amount of bond
buys to be drained is unchanged at E76.5 billion for the third
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$]
