The European Central Bank (ECB) is unlikely to alter its bond-buying program at its monetary policy meeting next Thursday, although could introduce some changes in the language of the statement, the latest Bloomberg survey of economists showed on Friday.
Key quotes
“Some 52% of respondents predict the ECB will spend the entirety of its 1.85 trillion-euro ($2.2 trillion) pandemic program, up from 40% in June. Economists see monthly purchases falling by 5 billion euros to 75 billion euros in August, when there’s less liquidity on financial markets, before buying will slow more significantly in October.”
“Officials will increase bond-buying under an older, less flexible program in April — to 30 billion euros a month from 20 billion euros currently — to smooth out the transition to post-crisis policy.”
“New virus variants that could lead to another round of lockdown measures were seen as the biggest risk to the euro-area economy in the survey, followed by supply-chain disruptions that are plaguing many companies as well as inflation pressures.”
