Is there a risk that financial institutions may resist and not sell the bonds they hold at the ECB? Banks can realise a capital gain on the sale of their government bonds and, in doing so, bolster their capital position and therefore their capacity to extend loans.
In the case of insurance companies, the situation is not as clear cut, especially if they’ve already used all their scope for diversification towards assets with a higher risk profile than sovereign debt. Has the ECB entered into an exchange rate war by launching a programme that puts pressure on its currency? No. The exchange rate is not an objective of our monetary policy.