Brussels, 25/03/2014 (Agence Europe) - The president of the Bundesbank, Jens Weidmann, has not ruled out mass buying of eurozone sovereign debt by the European Central Bank in order to head off the risk of deflation.
“Of course, any private or public assets that we might buy would have to meet certain quality standards”, Weidmann told MNI on Tuesday 25 March, adding: “But the overall question is one of effectiveness, costs and side-effects. We are currently discussing the effectiveness of these measures. The intended effects would then have to be weighed against the costs and side-effects. The unconventional measures under consideration are largely uncharted territory”. Analysts are sceptical about the likelihood of the ECB announcing any of the measures under consideration at the Governing Council meeting on Thursday 3 April.
Weidmann's comments led to a fall in the euro exchange rate. (MB)