As markets struggled to digest a fresh round of stimulus from the European Central Bank, economists also clashed in their assessments of the central bank’s new policy measures.

“After all the hoopla about doing more and not standing on the sidelines, the ECB seems only to have barely stepped onto the playing field,” said Robert Brusca, chief economist at FAO Economics. “There is no MVP performance here.”

Others argued that the ECB’s combined measures exceeded expectations, especially after leaving investors disappointed in December.

“This time the ECB delivered big time!” wrote Howard Archer, IHS Global Insight chief European and UK economist. “In fact, it looks like the ECB got hold of a few kitchen sinks to throw, although there may be disappointment in some quarters that there was not a bigger cut in the deposit rate.”

As expected, the ECB lowered its deposit rate further into negative territory to -0.4 percent. It lowered its main refinancing rate by five basis points to zero, a move that took some economists by surprise. The Governing Council also added an additional 20 billion euros to its asset purchase program and announced a new series of longer-term refinancing operation (TLTRO II) to be launched starting in June.