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ECB Facing Testy Stimulus Debate After Call to Scrap Limits

  • French governor says capital key not needed on pandemic buying
  • ECB’s vice president says topic hasn’t been discussed
Bank of France Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau

Bank of France Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau

Photographer: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg
Updated on

The European Central Bank looks set for another testy debate after one policy maker floated the prospect of removing what many see as an important limit on its powers.

Bank of France Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau said the capital key, which forces the ECB to buy 19 nations’ government bonds in proportion to the size of their economies, is an “uncalled-for constraint” for its emergency asset purchase program.