ECB to debate end of bond-buying next week
FRANKFURT AM MAIN: European Cent ral Bank policymakers will discuss at a meeting next week when to wind down the massive bond- buying scheme that has propped up the eurozone economy for the past three years, a top official said.
The Frankfurt institution has bought more than 2.4 trillion euros ( US$ 2.8 trillion) in bonds under its so- called quantitative easing scheme, which aims to ramp up growth and inf lation by injecting money into the financial system.
“Next week, the governing council will have to assess whether progress so far has been sufficient to warrant a gradual unwinding of our net purchases,” the ECB’s top economist Peter Praet said in a speech in Berlin.
The euro jumped to a twoweek high on Praet’s comments, climbing 0.3 per cent to US$1.1750 in morning trading.
Although ECB chief Mario Draghi may not yet announce an end date for QE at the upcoming gathering in Riga, commentators said the mere fact that the 25-member governing council would for first time discuss exiting the scheme was a vote of confidence in the eurozone recovery.
The ECB is currently buying 30 billion euros in government and corporate bonds a month and is set to continue to do so at least until September, with many observers expect ing the purchases to be gradually scaled back to zero by the end of the year. — AFP