THE European Central Bank (ECB) is ending the massive stimulus program that helped nurse the eurozone economy back to health over the past four years — despite the emergence of new risks including a global trade war and Brexit.

The decision to stop the bank’s monthly bond purchases at the end of the year closes out a 2.6-trillion-euro (US$3 trillion) effort that bank president Mario Draghi credits with helping put more than 9 million people in jobs.

Draghi said at a news conference that at times “it was the only driver of the recovery” in the absence of other action by governments, such as increased spending.

Of course, he conceded, “I am kind of biased” in assessing the bank’s success.

The bond purchases started in March 2015 to help Europe’s hesitant emergence from a debt crisis that threatened to break up the 19-country euro currency union.

The ECB said it can phase out the stimulus at year end because the economy is growing at a steady pace and inflation is near its goal of just under 2 percent.

In November, annual inflation in the eurozone was 2 percent, although excluding volatile food and fuel, it remains at a weak 1 percent.

Economic growth in the third quarter of the year slowed to only 0.2 percent from the quarter before, well down from higher rates at the end of last year.

By exiting the program, the ECB is joining a retreat by the U.S. Federal Reserve and the Bank of England from stimulus efforts deployed in the years following the global financial crisis of 2007-2009 and the Great Recession.

The ECB has made it clear that other stimulus efforts will remain in place for some time.

(SD-Agencies)