Isabel Schnabel of the ECB discusses changes in the Eurosystem’s balance sheet, asset purchases, liquidity, and monetary policy scenarios at the Chicago Booth Conference on November 15, 2025.
At the Chicago Booth Conference on the Global Economy and Financial Stability held in London on November 15, 2025, Isabel Schnabel, a member of the ECB Executive Board, presented on the evolution of the Eurosystem’s balance sheet and monetary policy measures.
The presentation highlighted that quantitative easing (QE) has significantly altered the composition of the Eurosystem’s balance sheet, with assets increasing from €1.2 trillion at end-2006 to €6.4 trillion at end-2024.
Key topics included the impact of asset purchase programs and pandemic emergency purchase programs (PEPP), with net securities holdings reaching significant levels by October 2025. The presentation also covered the normalization of quantitative measures, the effects on sovereign bond risk premia, and the evolution of liquidity and reserve holdings.
Additional analysis addressed the relationship between reserve levels, liquidity, and interest rate spreads, as well as scenarios indicating that banks may prefer to hold substantial buffers of excess reserves in the current environment.
Further details and data visualizations are available in the official ECB publication linked below.
