The European Central Bank (ECB) decided Thursday to cut the level of bonds it purchases every month, but extend the length of time that its stimulus program runs.

Its purchases will fall to 30 billion euros ($35 billion) from 60 billion euros, starting in January. The central bank said it will extend its monetary stimulus program until at last September of next year.

The central bank has remained ultra-accommodative in the years since the global financial crash and the euro zone sovereign debt crises. As well as record low interest rates it also introduced U.S.-style quantitative easing (QE) — buying assets to stimulate lending — which is used to stoke inflation and boost the economy.

“Today’s decision is a sea change but a very gentle one; not a big-bang u-turn in ECB monetary policy,” Carsten Brzeski, a chief economist at ING, said in a research note.

“In fact, the QE recalibration the ECB has announced illustrates that the ECB wants to start the exit as cautiously as possible, ideally without seeing the euro appreciate or bond yields increase. It is a very dovish tapering.”

This is the most significant move the ECB has taken to reduce its monetary stimulus — known as tapering — in the 19-member region. However, the central bank noted that if financial conditions or the economic outlook change, its monetary policy will once adapt to the new environment. The ECB also said it will continue to re-invest the proceeds it gets from buying debt.

Meanwhile, the banks’ main interest rates remained unchanged. The low rates are set to remain in place “well past” the monetary stimulus program.

The euro turned lower on the news as traders were expecting a more hawkish tone from the central bank. The currency was trading 1.1756 against the dollar, down by 0.5 percent for the session, at 1:00 p.m. London time.

Market players highlighted October as a turning point for the European Central Bank. They have expected nothing less than details on how the central bank will start reducing its monetary stimulus in the euro zone. In particular, money managers want to know by how much the ECB will reduce its monthly purchases of government bonds and when it will start doing so.

Announcing an exit from monetary stimulus is difficult for the central bank, as inflation remains below its target of “close but below 2 percent.” There’s also internal differences within the bank.

Some members believe that it is still too early to relax the stimulus program, but others are of the opinion that rates have been low for a very long time. Jens Weidmann, governor of the German central bank and one of the most hawkish members of the ECB, said in Washington: “I don’t see the need to continue pressing on the gas pedal of monetary policy and we are doing just this if we continue to make further purchases every month.”