ECB Policy Makers Worried Markets Expect More QE Extensions
- Account of Oct. 26 meeting showed debate on QE open-endedness
- Various QE sizes and duration discussed by Governing Council
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Some European Central Bank policy makers worried at last month’s meeting that a failure to put an end-date on their bond-buying program might stoke unwarranted speculation by investors that purchases could be prolonged again next year.
“The open-ended nature of the asset purchase program might generate expectations of further extensions as the intended end date of the program approached,” accounts of the Oct. 25-26 Governing Council session showed on Thursday. “From the current perspective, that did not appear justified in the absence of major new shocks.”