Bank deposits at ECB rise, bond buying continues

 

Overnight bank deposits at the European Central Bank rose, data showed on Tuesday, a sign that commercial banks are still holding on to a lot of the extra cash the ECB has pushed into markets to encourage lending.

Banks deposited 163.829 billion euros at the ECB overnight on Sept. 7, up from the 140.108 billion deposited previously.

Bank borrowing from the ECB's overnight rose slightly to 86 million euros from 73 million.

The amounts parked at the ECB's deposit facility have been high since it flooded money markets with almost half a trillion euros in one-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 inched up to 10.314 billion euros, but later revised the figure to 10.324 billion euros. It means the ECB is now more than 17 percent through the 60 billion euros it has earmarked to spend.