Given that a high number of securities have been purchased, if we stopped the programme overnight it would cause a "cliff, effect", that is, a sharp drop in liquidity. We must manage the programme in such a way as to avoid that situation occurring in the markets, independent of pure monetary policy considerations.
The other option referred to in Malta concerns a lowering of the Eurosystem deposit facility rate. The negative rate of –0.20%, in place since 2014, was supposed to be a floor. Why should the ECB change its mind? Negative rates, with which we have limited experience, have multiple consequences. Some are positive, others less so.