The ECB's 3-year LTRO -- a scheme that allows banks to access cheap funding for 3 years -- has worked better than almost anyone predicted.
Yields in Spain and Italy have come way down. Banks have come off the mat. The feeling pf panic has gone.
So why has it worked?
Well, first the obvious. Banks did use the money they borrowed from the ECB to buy more sovereign debt.
Check out these charts from Credit Suisse:
And we love this list from the same report, especially the top answer:
The beauty of the LTRO is that:
The German public opinion does not understand it;
The ECB can claim that adequate collateral is being posted; and
The still high level of 10-year BTPs and Bonos forces Italy and Spain to continue
reforming.
We agree with our economists that another LTRO is possible, especially if the euro were
to be sufficiently strong to force more deflation on peripheral Europe.
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See Also:
- The Rally Keeps Chugging Ahead Of Europe's Big Refinance Auction
- The LTRO Bubble Has Popped, And Europe Is About To Find Itself In A World Of Trouble
- GET READY: The Second LTRO Is Less Than A Week Away