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The ECB's asset purchase programmes

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De Nederlandsche Bank, together with other central banks in the euro area, purchased bonds under various asset purchase programmes. You can read more about these programmes on this page.

An instrument to control inflation 

The European Central Bank (ECB) has a number of instruments at its disposal to control the level of inflation. The best known and most frequently used of these instruments is the key policy rate. By adjusting this rate upwards or downwards, the ECB can stimulate or cool the economy in the euro area. 

If adjusting the policy rate is not enough to achieve its medium-term inflation target of 2%, the ECB can deploy another instrument: ‘quantitative easing’. This means increasing the amount of money in the economy. It does so by selectively buying up bonds and other debt securities issued by countries, public bodies and, in some cases, companies. 

Quantitative easing is primarily intended to stimulate the economy and thereby raise inflation to a target level of 2%. Quantitative tightening is a less direct tool. It is allowed to run in the background to cool down the economy and curb inflation. The target rate of 2% inflation is still the main objective here.  

Asset purchase programmes 

Over the years, the ECB has set up several programmes to buy up bonds and other debt securities. In 2014, together with the central banks that make up the Eurosystem, it launched one of the largest ever: the Asset Purchase Programme (APP).  The APP consisted of four separate purchase programmes: 

  • The Covered Bonds Purchase Programme 3 (CBPP3) (2014) involved the purchase of covered bonds issued by banks. This programme was a continuation of earlier covered bond purchase programmes implemented from 2009 onwards. 

  • After the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, the ECB launched the Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme (PEPP) in March 2020. This programme was primarily intended as an emergency measure to keep the economy going during the crisis. From the end of 2024 onwards, the ECB stopped reinvesting the yields generated from bonds purchased through the PEPP. 

Through the APP and PEPP, the ECB sought to ease financing conditions and ensure the transmission of monetary policy. The APP was discontinued in 2023. Yields from bonds purchased under the APP will not be reinvested when the bonds mature. 

Purchases by DNB 

The ECB and the national central banks in the euro area are responsible for implementing the purchase programmes. In the Netherlands, this is DNB’s responsibility. For example, when a purchase programme is launched, we buy Dutch asset-backed securities, covered bonds and bonds issued by the Dutch government and national institutions. 

We purchase them on the market from our counterparties, most of which are international banks that trade in bonds. We also effect part of our purchases through auctions. 

The bonds we purchased under the PSPP were made available for securities lending transactions. Read more about securities lending transactions and auctions under the purchase programmes.