During the Great Recession, when the ECB balance sheet started its expansion, M3 growth fell dramatically to negative levels. Since 2010, M3 growth has remained very low, at average levels below 2%. To sum up, the first phase of non-standard monetary policy was conducted in a context of well-anchored inflation expectations.
Our non-standard measures over this period were aimed at addressing specific market impairments, to pre-empt risks to price stability over the medium-term. These measures produced implications on the size of the ECB balance sheet only as a by-product, as the size of the balance sheet was passively determined by the demand for liquidity emanating from the banking sector.