At the same time, PSPP purchases in Germany have long been concentrated in medium to longterm maturities due to the restriction not to conduct purchases below the DFR.
As early as April 6/8  BIS central bankers' speeches  2015, securities purchased under the PSPP have been made available for lending in a decentralised and cash-neutral manner by Eurosystem central banks.4 But I think it is fair to say that the initial restriction on lending bonds only against other securities was too penalising and is likely to have contributed to the growing specialness premium in that segment of the yield curve where the Eurosystem was intervening most heavily last year.