ECB Restarting QE Will Need More Purchase of Private Debt

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The European Central Bank is running low on sovereign bonds to buy -- that undermines the credibility of its pledge to keep going until inflation picks up. If inflation takes two years to firm, the ECB could face a shortage of about 60 billion euros ($67 billion) in debt during the next phase of its asset-purchase program. At the present pace, the central bank could run out of bonds in little over a year, according to calculations by Bloomberg Economics. The best way out is to shift the composition of purchases: BE estimates the markets for corporate and covered bonds could easily bridge the gap.