The European Central Bank said it will keep its vast bond-buying programme running at a high pace despite rapidly rising inflation, setting it apart from other major central banks that are shifting towards tighter monetary policy.
After a two-day meeting of its governing council, the ECB said on Thursday that its €1.85tn pandemic emergency purchase programme (PEPP) would continue at “a moderately lower pace” than the €80bn-a-month level it ran at until last month.
The ECB kept its deposit rate unchanged at minus 0.5 per cent and postponed until its next meeting in December vital decisions such as how much stimulus it may provide next year via asset purchases and low-cost bank financing.