ifo Viewpoint

The ECB’s Toxic Bond-Purchase Program

Clemens Fuest
ifo Institute, Munich, 2022

ifo Viewpoint No. 240

With eurozone inflation rising rapidly, the European Central Bank recently increased its benchmark interest rate by 50 basis points and introduced a new asset-purchase program – the Transmission Protection Instrument (TPI) – aimed at limiting yield differentials between member states’ bonds. But the ECB’s latest anti-fragmentation tool risks destabilizing the single currency.