Reuters reports that fresh data showed that the European Central Bank increased bond purchases last week to cap yields, stepping up its market activity.

Fearing that rising borrowing costs could choke off growth, the ECB decided last week to boost bond purchases, hoping to keep yields exceptionally low while the bloc battles with yet another wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

The bank bought a net 14.0 billion euros ($16.7 billion)worth of bonds under its Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme (PEPP) up from 11.9 billion euros a week earlier. Combined with other purchase schemes, it spent a net 19.3 billion euros, up from 17.1 billion euros in the previous week.

The ECB can buy around 75 billion euros worth of bonds a month under PEPP without raising its 1.85 trillion euro overall quota, and economists expect purchases in this range over the coming months.