Off the wire
• U.S. stocks open higher on ECB moves  • China Focus: China's disputed "Good Samaritan" case gets a new ending  • Indian Air Force rescues 220 civilians trapped in snow in Indian-controlled Kashmir  • 2 killed in E. Ukraine as clashes persist despite truce  • Kerry assures Gulf countries on Iran's nuclear talks  • EU to release 100 mln euros for internal energy market project completion  • New round of nuclear talks between P5+1, Iran begins in Switzerland  • Result of WCBA League  • Malta airport witnesses 8.1 pct growth in Feb  • China expects slower, better energy use  
You are here: 　 Home

2nd LD: ECB QE policy to start on March 9

Xinhua, March 5, 2015 Adjust font size:

The European Central Bank (ECB) said on Thursday that its quantitative easing program (QE) will start on March 9.

The announcement was made by ECB President Mario Draghi after a meeting of its Governing Council in the Cypriot capital of Nicosia.

Draghi said ECB will purchase Eurogroup member countries bonds until at least September, 2016 worth an estimated 1.1 trillion euros.

"We will on March 9, 2015, start purchasing euro-dominated public sector securities in the secondary market. We will also continue to purchase asset backed securities and covered bonds which we started last year," Draghi told journalists at a press conference at the end of the ECB meeting.

The purchase of sovereign debt will start in a bid to accelerate growth in the euro zone which started picking up after Draghi first presented his program on January 22.

He said the start of the program would prove to be supportive of the emerging growth.

Central Banks of the euro zone countries will buy 60 billion euros worth of bonds each month for the duration of the program, and also some private sector assets.

Draghi's statement on the start of the QE program came after ECB announced that its Governing Council decided to leave interest rates unchanged at their record lows.

The ECB meeting decided to leave their main refinancing rate which determines the cost of borrowing at 0.05 percent.

Overnight deposits rate was also kept unchanged at -0.20 percent, meaning that banks will pay for giving their money to the central bank for safe keeping.

The overnight borrowing rate by banks, known as emergency overnight borrowing rate, was unchanged at 0.30 percent. Endit