Overnight deposits at ECB rise, bond total up

Overnight bank deposits at the European Central Bank rose, data showed on Friday, with commercial banks still holding on to much of the extra cash the ECB has pushed into markets to encourage lending.

The amount of covered bonds bought by the ECB and national central banks rose slightly, data also showed.

Banks deposited 159.101 billion euros on Aug. 20, up from 144.911 billion euros deposited previously.

Banks also borrowed 98 million euros from the ECB's overnight account, up from 57 million.

The amounts parked at the ECB's deposit facility have been high since it flooded money markets with almost half a trillioneuros in 1-year funds at the end of June.

The ECB and the 16 euro zone national central banks are also buying euro-denominated covered bonds - debt backed by a pool of assets such as mortgage loans that remain on the issuing bank's balance sheet - over the next year, from both primary and secondary markets.

The ECB said the total purchased had risen to 7.420 billion euros from 7.261 billion previously. It means the ECB is now roughly 12 percent through the 60 billion euros it has ear marked to spend.

The ECB released a report in early August about its bond purchases in July, almost two-thirds of which were made on secondary markets.