In January, the Eurosystem bought €5.5 billion ($7.6 billion) of eligible covered bonds under its covered bond purchase programme, according to a monthly report released last Thursday.

Of the total, €2.1 billion accounted for purchases in primary markets and the remaining €3.3 billion were bought off the secondary market, the European Central Bank (ECB) said. "Overall, activity in the covered bond market picked up significantly again in January, following a seasonal slowdown in December which