ECB: purchase of Portuguese public debt reaches a new low of 414 million euros
The European Central Bank decreased once again their purchases of Portuguese debt, reaching an historical minimum: in August , it purchased just 414 million euros.
The European Central Bank (ECB) decreased once again their investment in Portuguese public debt: 414 million euros is the lowest amount ever bought since the beginning of the public sector purchase programme (PSPP). Purchases decrease once again, after the one-off interruption in July, when ECB increased the purchase of bonds.
The historical minimum is 414 million euros, which means the total amount ECB has invested in Portuguese bonds, within the PSPP, rises to 29,076 million euros. ECB has been decreasing their purchases of the Portuguese public debt since April, 2017, except for July’s purchase, when ECB made a 517 million euros’ investment.
The ECB stands far from the purchases’ threshold, since it is able to buy three times more Portuguese debt per month than what has been buying. The entity headed by Mario Draghi started using 80 billion euros per month to purchase debt from Euro Area countries. This April, that limit decreased to 60 billion euros. The plan is being applied for 29 months now, and the goal is to reduce the debt risk of European Union members.
