The European Central Bank
(ECB) is set to introduce a program of massive sovereign bond
buying to stimulate inflation, German magazine Der Spiegel
reported Friday.
Such a program, known as quantitative easing, could be
outlined by the ECB as early as its next regular meeting on
Thursday, a senior official was quoted as telling French
newspaper Liberation.
Under the ECB plan, national central banks will only be
allowed to buy the sovereign debt of their respective countries,
and a ceiling of 20-25% will be set on national debt purchases,
the magazine reported.
Greece is said to not be included because it does not fit
program criteria.
According to Der Spiegel, ECB President Mario Draghi
discussed the plan with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and
Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble at an informal meeting in
Berlin on Wednesday.
The German government later confirmed the meeting had taken
place.
Dutch central banker Klaas Knot said he was in favor of
putting central banks in charge of a QE plan in their respective
countries.
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