Quantitative Easing, often abbreviated to QE, is a term used to describe the purchase of debt, usually government debt, by central banks (such as the Bank of England, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Federal Reserve). The idea is that, buy buying this debt from commercial banks, this frees up the commercial bank's balance sheets and allows them to lend - boosting the economy. The purchased debt ends up on the balance sheets of the central banks.