The European Central Bank’s pandemic-era asset holdings remained sizable as of last week, underscoring how large its balance sheet still is even as markets watch the pace of policy normalization.
The European Central Bank’s PEPP bond portfolio totaled €1.31 trillion as of last week, highlighting the scale of the central bank’s remaining pandemic-era asset holdings. PEPP, the Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme, was a bond-buying scheme launched to support markets and the economy during the COVID shock. The update points to the ECB still carrying a very large balance sheet, a factor investors monitor closely as the institution continues its broader normalization process.