It is hoped that this investment and consumption will stimulate the economy. This should restore the inflation rate to close to 2%. There are doubts among the general public in Germany about whether the benefits of the purchase programmes outweigh the costs.
The criticism is often made that, unlike for our interest rate instrument, there are no reliable empirical data on the effect of the purchases. The benefit of quantitative easing is called into question. In fact, we can identify the first positive effects on financing conditions in the euro area. However, there is uncertainty about how large the effects actually are.