29 Oct 2020

Jan Krahnen: "The ECB sticks to its course"

SAFE Director sees the current monetary policy decision of the European Central Bank as an opportunity to relieve the banks in the eurozone

With its recent monetary policy decision, the ECB's Council again decided neither to change the key interest rate level nor to increase the "Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme" (PEPP) for the purchase of public and private bonds during the Corona crisis. Jan Krahnen, Director of the Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE, comments on this decision:

"The ECB sticks to its previous course with its remaining stance, which, however, does not signal inaction in any way. The renewed wave of corona infections in all European countries is also intensifying concerns about the profitability and performance of banks in the current crisis.

The open structure of the PEPP certainly offers opportunities to relieve the banks of parts of their portfolios. This may become increasingly important in the current situation. After all, the coordination of monetary policy with the emerging EU rescue and restructuring program to combat the Corona pandemic is an important stabilizing factor in troubled times."