The ECB’s purchases of public-sector debt instruments as part of the APP are a good example how this prohibition is applied: First of all, we do not buy government bonds in the primary market – which is explicitly forbidden under Article 123 – but only in the secondary market.
Purchases of public-sector bonds in the secondary market in turn are forbidden, if they circumvent the monetary financing prohibition, i.e. have an effect equivalent to that of purchases in the primary market. We have made sure that this is not the case by putting in place several safeguards4. As one of these safeguards, PSPP purchases adhere to a blackout period, i.e.