Purchases of commercial paper during the coronavirus pandemic

The Riksbank's intention with these purchases was to help firms address their most urgent financing needs by supporting the supply of credit in the corporate paper market, which had shown signs of high stress and low turnover in March 2020. The Riksbank ended the purchases of commercial paper in December 2021.

The Riksbank purchased commercial paper issued in Swedish kronor by Swedish non-financial corporations with a credit rating equivalent to Baa3/BBB- or higher and with a remaining maturity of up to six months. The commercial paper was purchased on the secondary market through auctions where monetary policy counterparties were allowed to bid.

The Riksbank endeavoured to purchase commercial paper with a wide range of issuers and maturities to ensure that purchases were carried out in an impartial manner and with a broad impact on interest rates. The Riksbank's purchases were limited to a maximum of 70 per cent of an individual issuer's total outstanding volume of commercial paper in Swedish kronor.

More detailed information on the commercial paper purchases can be found in the document under “Related content” below.

Purchases of commercial paper

The Riksbank's total purchases of commercial paper during the period 2020 to 2021 inclusive are presented here.

The Riksbank’s total holdings of securities