The European Central Bank launched last March the purchase of public debt through a programme of EUR 750,000 million (PEPP). Thus, following the warnings of the bank’s president, Christine Lagarde, another EUR 600,000 million will be mobilized for the purchase of mainly public bonds, which would amount to EUR 1.35 billion. This figure would be increasingly close to the EUR 2 billion that the European Parliament had asked the Community institutions to get out of the crisis in May.

This Thursday, the ECB announced that it maintains interest rates and that the programme will be extended for six months, at least until June 2021. In fact, this body has made dark forecasts regarding the economy of the euro zone, that this year will reduce its GDP by almost 9%, a parameter that neoliberal entities continue to maintain to measure the progress of the economy, and that will rise by 5% in 2021 and 3.5% in 2022. That is, up to two years the euro zone would not recover the level of GDP prior to the coronavirus explosion.

Private banking wins

Lagarde explained this Thursday at a press conference that the ECB's objective is to "limit as much as possible the stains that may leave the health crisis" in the real economy and in households. But at the moment, the real benefit of this huge purchase and sale operation will be felt mainly by the private sector. Why?

The central bank does not buy the debt directly, but through private intermediary financial institutions, with the aim of keeping inflation under control, he said. Through the so-called TLTRO mechanism, the central bank transfers money to private banks so that they purchase debt on more advantageous terms, and by the way they charge interest and earn money. According to the professor and responsible for the economic policies of UI in Spain, Carlos Sánchez, they could win about 9 billion euros.