This aggregate includes purchases of € billion of Irish sovereign debt. The ECB’s accommodative monetary policy has contributed to Ireland’s excellent recent economic performance. For instance, the low interest rate environment has been a boon to many indebted households, while the government has been able to issue debt at low yields.
More generally, as indicated in the introductory statement to the press conference after yesterday’s monetary policy meeting, the assessment of the Governing Council is that the monetary policy measures that have been adopted since mid-2014 are working; noting the increase in downside risks in recent weeks, the Governing Council will review and possibly reconsider the monetary policy stance in early March.