The increase in settled and outstanding purchases under CBPP3 in the week to last Friday was Eu500m lower in than the previous week, with the slowdown attributed to a lack of new issuance, although secondary market purchases increased by an average of some Eu30m per day.

European Central Bank figures released on Monday show that settled and outstanding purchases under the third covered bond purchase programme increased Eu868m, from Eu193.006bn to Eu193.874bn, in the week to last Friday. Portfolio redemption figures released yesterday (Tuesday) afternoon show that around Eu100m of CBPP3-holdings matured last week, implying gross purchases of around Eu968m, compared with Eu1.577bn in the previous week.

Analysts said the fall in gross purchases reflected a lack of CBPP3-eligible issuance, with no benchmark Eurozone supply settling in the relevant reporting period, whereas the Eu1.577bn of purchases in the previous week – the highest figure in three months – came on the back of four eligible deals.

Although total purchases fell short of the previous week’s high, secondary market purchases increased, having averaged Eu194m per day last week compared with an estimated Eu165m in the previous reporting period

Analysts noted that at the current rate of purchases, the Eurosystem is on track to buy around Eu4.5bn of covered bonds in September. This would be an increase of around Eu1.5bn from gross purchase volumes in August and roughly in line with purchases in July.