In a statement, the central bank said it stood ready to recalibrate its instruments.

This week's decision to hold fire came despite France and Germany facing new lockdowns.

The E C B also warned that the ongoing crisis poses major risks to growth, but for now it's in no hurry to act.

Having already lined up unprecedented firepower in the spring, bank chief Christine Lagarde set aside 1.35 trillion euros for bond purchases.

That's almost $1.6 trillion buying about 100 billion euros a month.

That has pushed borrowing costs to record lows.

Now the banks still has half of that cash to spare, giving it enough to keep markets calm.

Economists say the question is whether the CBI has to rethink its growth forecasts on ditz resulting strategy.