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Pandemic emergency purchase programme (PEPP)

The ECB’s pandemic emergency purchase programme (PEPP) is a non-standard monetary policy measure initiated in March 2020 to counter the serious risks to the monetary policy transmission mechanism and the outlook for the euro area posed by the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

The PEPP is a temporary asset purchase programme covering private and public sector securities. The Governing Council decided to increase the initial €750 billion envelope for the PEPP by €600 billion on 4 June 2020 and by €500 billion on 10 December, to a new total of €1,850 billion. All asset categories eligible for purchase under the existing asset purchase programme (APP) are also eligible under the PEPP, and the eligibility requirements have been waived for securities issued by the Greek Government.

In addition, the eligibility of non-financial commercial paper under the corporate sector purchase programme (CSPP) was expanded to include securities with a remaining maturity of at least 28 days. These securities can be purchased under both the CSPP and the PEPP. Previously, only commercial paper with a remaining maturity of at least six months had been eligible for purchase under the CSPP. The residual maturity of public sector securities eligible for purchase under the PEPP ranges from 70 days to a maximum of 30 years and 364 days.

For the purchases of public sector securities under the PEPP, the benchmark allocation across jurisdictions will be the Eurosystem capital key of the national central banks. At the same time, purchases will be conducted in a flexible manner on the basis of market conditions and with a view to preventing a tightening of financing conditions that is inconsistent with countering the downward impact of the pandemic on the projected path of inflation. The flexibility of purchases over time, and across asset classes and jurisdictions will continue to support the smooth transmission of monetary policy.

On 16 December 2021 the Governing Council decided to discontinue net asset purchases under the PEPP at the end of March 2022. At the same time, the Governing Council decided that the maturing principal payments from securities purchased under the PEPP would be reinvested until at least the end of 2024, and the future roll-off of the PEPP portfolio would be managed to avoid interference with the appropriate monetary stance.

On 14 December 2023 the Governing Council announced that it intends to continue to reinvest, in full, the principal payments from maturing securities purchased under the PEPP during the first half of 2024 and to reduce the PEPP portfolio by €7.5 billion per month on average over the second half of the year. At the same time, the Governing Council announced that it intends to discontinue reinvestments under the PEPP at the end of 2024.

Weekly changes are reported below and in the Eurosystem weekly financial statement. Full historical data are available in the Statistics section of the ECB's website under Daily liquidity conditions.

Securities purchased under the monetary policy portfolios are made available for securities lending to support market liquidity and collateral availability in the market.

PEPP holdings*
EUR millions 1,668,986
Date 8 March 2024
* Updated weekly, at amortised cost
Monthly and cumulative net purchases of debt securities under the PEPP
Book value as at end-February 2024 (EUR millions) Cumulative net purchases as at end-January 2024 Monthly net purchases in February 2024 Cumulative net purchases* (EUR millions)
PEPP 1,713,749 62 1,713,811
* Cumulative monthly net purchases figures represent the difference between the acquisition cost of all purchase operations and the redeemed nominal amounts.
Note: Figures may not add up due to rounding. Figures are preliminary and may be subject to revision. The monthly purchase volumes are reported on a settlement basis and net of redemptions.

The table presents the Eurosystem holdings at the end of the bimonthly period and a breakdown of the change in Eurosystem holdings.

Eurosystem holdings under the pandemic emergency purchase programme
Changes in holdings in EUR millions Asset-backed securities Covered bonds Corporate bonds Commercial paper Public sector securities Total
Holdings* as at end-Nov 2023 0 6,040 46,011 0 1,615,926 1,667,976
Net purchases Dec 23 - Jan 24 0 0 -73 0 1,250 1,178
Quarter-end amortisation adjustment and redemptions of coupon STRIPS 0 -4 -18 0 -3,211 -3,233
Holdings* as at end-Jan 2024 0 6,036 45,920 0 1,613,965 1,665,921

*End-of-period book value at amortised cost.

Figures may not add up due to rounding. Figures are preliminary and may be subject to revision.

Amortisation adjustments are made at the end of each quarter. The amortisation results from an accounting principle that implies that securities purchased at prices below face value have to be revalued upwards over time towards maturity, and revalued downwards over time if purchased at prices above face value. STRIPS are accounted for at the end of each month.

Bimonthly breakdown of public sector securities under the PEPP
(EUR millions) Net purchases Dec 23 - Jan 24 Cumulative net purchases as at end-Jan 24* Current WAM of public sector securities holdings under the PEPP** WAM of eligible universe of public sector securities under the PEPP as at end-Jan 2024**
Austria 315 43,504 7.02 7.81
Belgium 676 56,617 5.92 9.24
Cyprus 11 2,468 8.07 8.03
Germany -631 393,502 6.59 7.18
Estonia 0 256 6.36 7.51
Spain -613 192,376 7.14 7.28
Finland 647 26,856 6.91 7.46
France 3,232 301,856 7.01 7.78
Greece 130 39,363 8.29 9.10
Ireland 178 25,886 8.58 9.45
Italy -2,173 285,376 7.27 6.94
Lithuania -48 3,133 9.22 8.39
Luxembourg 5 1,886 5.84 7.93
Latvia 24 1,881 7.52 7.08
Malta 1 605 9.49 7.94
Netherlands -2,789 81,698 7.43 9.04
Portugal 66 32,390 7.28 7.93
Slovenia 42 6,589 8.12 8.58
Slovakia 78 7,946 7.92 8.32
Supranationals 2,101 157,191 9.71 8.91
Total 1,250 1,661,380 7.30 7.67

* Cumulative net purchase figures represent the difference between the acquisition cost of all purchase operations and the redeemed nominal amounts.

** Remaining weighted average maturity (WAM) in years.

Notes: Figures may not add up due to rounding. Figures are preliminary and may be subject to revision. The purchase volumes are reported on a settlement basis and net of redemptions.

Bimonthly breakdown of private sector securities under the PEPP
Asset class Asset-backed securities Covered bonds Corporate bonds Commercial paper
Market Primary Secondary Primary Secondary Primary Secondary Primary Secondary
EUR mil. * 0 0 1,299 4,737 15,287 30,633 0 0
Share * 0.00% 0.00% 21.52% 78.48% 33.29% 66.71% 0.00% 0.00%
Date 31-Jan-2024
* End of month, at amortised cost

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