January is likely to be CBPP3’s busiest month since March 2016 in terms of gross purchases, with the Eurosystem having bought some Eu6.65bn of covered bonds as of Friday, although redemptions in the portfolio remain high. The programme registered a steady pace last week, with a slight pick-up in primary purchases seen.

ECB figures released on Monday show the CBPP3 portfolio increased Eu408m, from Eu207.456bn to Eu207.864bn, in the week to last Friday. Portfolio redemption figures released yesterday (Tuesday) afternoon show that around Eu900m of CBPP3 holdings matured last week, implying gross purchases of around Eu1.308bn – in line with the gross purchases of Eu1.34bn in the previous week.

The redemptions are the second highest under the programme, following last week’s record figure of around Eu1.1bn.

Some Eu3.25bn of CBPP3-eligible supply settled last week, of which analysts estimate the ECB bought Eu750m-Eu850m, implying gross secondary purchases averaged Eu91m-Eu111m per day. This is slightly below the average of the previous week, which analysts estimated to be around Eu122m-Eu138m per day.

Analysts noted after the release of this week’s figures that last month will likely be CBPP3’s busiest month since last March – when gross CBPP3 buying totalled some Eu7.72bn – with the ECB having announced gross January purchases of around Eu6.65bn as of last Friday (27 January).

With the high purchases counteracted by record redemptions, the net portfolio increase is substantially lower, at Eu4.348bn as of Friday.