FRANKFURT (MNI) – The European Central Bank Thursday issued the
following statement outlining the key aspects of its new bond purchasing
program, which it is calling Outright Monetary Transactions:
“As announced on 2 August 2012, the Governing Council of the
European Central Bank (ECB) has today taken decisions on a number of
technical features regarding the Eurosystems outright transactions in
secondary sovereign bond markets that aim at safeguarding an appropriate
monetary policy transmission and the singleness of the monetary policy.
These will be known as Outright Monetary Transactions (OMTs) and will be
conducted within the following framework:
CONDITIONALITY
A necessary condition for Outright Monetary Transactions is strict
and effective conditionality attached to an appropriate European
Financial Stability Facility/European Stability Mechanism (EFSF/ESM)
programme. Such programmes can take the form of a full EFSF/ESM
macroeconomic adjustment programme or a precautionary programme
(Enhanced Conditions Credit Line), provided that they include the
possibility of EFSF/ESM primary market purchases. The involvement of the
IMF shall also be sought for the design of the country-specific
conditionality and the monitoring of such a programme. The Governing
Council will consider Outright Monetary Transactions to the extent that
they are warranted from a monetary policy perspective as long as
programme conditionality is fully respected, and terminate them once
their objectives are achieved or when there is noncompliance with the
macroeconomic adjustment or precautionary programme. Following a
thorough assessment, the Governing Council will decide on the start,
continuation and suspension of Outright Monetary Transactions in full
discretion and acting in accordance with its monetary policy mandate.
COVERAGE
Outright Monetary Transactions will be considered for future cases
of EFSF/ESM macroeconomic adjustment programmes or precautionary
programmes as specified above. They may also be considered for Member
States currently under a macroeconomic adjustment programme when they
will be regaining bond market access. Transactions will be focused on
the shorter part of the yield curve, and in particular on sovereign
bonds with a maturity of between one and three years. No ex ante
quantitative limits are set on the size of Outright Monetary
Transactions. Creditor treatment The Eurosystem intends to clarify in
the legal act concerning Outright Monetary Transactions that it accepts
the same (pari passu) treatment as private or other creditors with
respect to bonds issued by euro area countries and purchased by the
Eurosystem through Outright Monetary Transactions, in accordance with
the terms of such bonds. Sterilisation The liquidity created through
Outright Monetary Transactions will be fully sterilised.
TRANSPARENCY
Aggregate Outright Monetary Transaction holdings and their market
values will be published on a weekly basis. Publication of the average
duration of Outright Monetary Transaction holdings and the breakdown by
country will take place on a monthly basis.
SECURITIES MARKETS PROGRAMME
Following today’s decision on Outright Monetary Transactions, the
Securities Markets Programme (SMP) is herewith terminated. The liquidity
injected through the SMP will continue to be absorbed as in the past,
and the existing securities in the SMP portfolio will be held to
maturity.”
[TOPICS: M$$EC$,MGX$$$,MT$$$$,M$$CR$,M$X$$$]