Lagarde Has Grown ECB Balance Sheet by More Than Draghi: Chart

The European Central Bank’s balance sheet has expanded more under 15 months of Christine Lagarde’s presidency than it did during Mario Draghi’s eight-year term. The institution’s assets were up 2.42 trillion euros ($2.94 trillion) at the end of last week from when Lagarde’s leadership began in November 2019. Under Draghi, the balance sheet expanded by 2.35 trillion euros. While the former ECB president’s bond-buying program significantly swelled assets in recent years, Lagarde’s pandemic stimulus to fight the biggest peacetime recession in a century has pushed the total balance above 7 trillion euros.