adding that "the question is not when but how to continue. That will depend on the economic projections for 2018, which we will have in the fall [...] It's not about an abrupt halt, but about registering that we are no longer confronted by such an acute crisis as we were when we implemented the measures. I consider it wise to step off the gas slowly."

In other words, just like all other central bank pronouncements, this too was meant to instill confidence in the economy. There is just one problem: the question which Nowotny tried so hard to ignore is precisely the one that matters as we most recently explained in "Both ECB And BOJ Are Just Months Away From Running Out Of Bonds To Buy." The question is even more relevant considering it has been the ECB's purchases of corporate (and government) bonds that has led to a record drop in European credit spreads as we showed yesterday.