Recently, social media and some news outlets have been buzzing with headlines like “monetary expansion has begun.” But the real situation is more complicated. When we look at the global economy today, the major central banks have not started printing new money or injecting fresh liquidity into the markets. In fact, most of them are still shrinking the oversized balance sheets that ballooned during the pandemic, or at best keeping them unchanged.
For example, the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) stopped reducing its balance sheet this year after shrinking it since 2022. This means “we’re no longer pulling money out of the system.” But it does not mean “we’re printing new money.” The Fed is simply maintaining its current balance sheet size—neither expanding it nor shrinking it. So this does not count as new liquidity entering the market.
The European Central Bank (ECB), on the other hand, ended monetary expansion long ago. It no longer replaces expiring bonds with new ones, which means money continues to leave the system every month. This is outright tightening.
Japan’s central bank (BoJ) has also moved away from its ultra-loose monetary regime. It is slowly reducing bond purchases and even signaling possible interest rate hikes. In other words, Japan is not stepping on the gas either.
The Bank of Canada has only resumed routine government bond purchases for technical reasons. This is not crisis-level QE; it’s just normal liquidity management.
In Türkiye, the situation is very clear: the Central Bank is applying a tight monetary policy. Interest rates are high, credit growth is controlled, and nothing about the current policy stance indicates monetary expansion.
So where did the “monetary expansion starts today” claim come from?
Most likely from a misunderstanding of the Fed’s decision to stop shrinking its balance sheet. The Fed did not begin printing money; it only stopped withdrawing it. This creates a slightly more market-friendly environment for risk assets (stocks, crypto, etc.), but it’s not enough to declare a guaranteed new bull run.
Bottom Line: Liquidity taps are not opening—tightening simply paused
There is no major global monetary expansion right now. Neither the Fed, nor Europe, nor Japan, nor Türkiye has turned on the money printer. At best, we are moving from “tight” toward “neutral.” This might give markets some breathing room, but it is nowhere near the kind of liquidity surge that triggers a massive bull market.
