The ECB’s two big QE categories – loans to banks and bonds – declined by €64 billion in June, to €3.98 trillion combined, the lowest since June 2020, according to the ECB’s weekly balance sheet. Since peak-balance sheet at the end of QE in June 2022, the ECB’s QT programs have shed €3.18 trillion ($3.72 trillion), or 44%, of its loans and bonds combined. The ECB also has non-QE assets on its balance sheet, including close to €1 trillion in gold, which it adjusts to market value on a quarterly basis. The Q2 adjustment came on the current balance sheet: the first write-down in nearly two years (-€30 billion), after ... (full story)