At its 8 December Governing Council meeting, the European Central Bank (ECB) extended its asset purchase program by nine months to the end of December 2017, but at a rate of €60 billion per month – a decrease from €80 billion currently. So did the ECB taper or not? PIMCO thinks it did. The ECB chose to purchase an additional €540 billion of assets, which exceeds the €480 billion stock implied by a six-month extension at €80 billion per month (what the markets were expecting). However, it will do so at a lower monthly run rate – and at face value, that is tapering. Yet the ECB’s decision was more nuanced than that. ... (full story)