The ECB said on Monday that the amount of Portuguese debt it bought under the scope of the so-called quantitative easing, fell again from €1.023 billion in November, to €726 million in December and €688 million in January.

The ECB decided in December to prolong the government debt purchase programme until the end of this year, but with a slow-down as of April (€60 billion a month instead of €80 billion).