BRUSSELS (MNI) – The European Central Bank has made no decision on
intervening directly in the financial markets to purchase government
bonds, ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet said on Sunday.
“As you know, we have decided in the past to purchase covered
bonds,” Trichet told reporters at a press conference in Brussels. “At
this stage, we have absolutely no decision on the purchase of government
bonds,” he said.
Last year the ECB said it would buy up to E60 billion worth of
covered bonds as part of its extraordinary support measures for the
Eurozone economy, which it is now in the process of phasing out. There
has also been speculation the ECB would extend its covered bond program,
which has by now purchased the lion’s share of the E60 billion.
Trichet was speaking at a press conference after Eurozone finance
ministers announced a E110 billion package of loans over 3 years for
heavily-indebted Greece — E80 billion of which will come from Eurozone
countries and E30 billion from the International Monetary Fund.
It had been suggested that the ECB could buy Greek government bonds
to help alleviate market pressures on the country, a practice which is
forbidden under normal circumstances but allowed in times of “systemic
crisis.”
–Brussels: 0032 487 (0) 32 803 665, echarlton@marketnews.com
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