European Central Bank employs quantitative easing to combat deflation
Archive 2015 Jan 22, 2015 Aeryn Pfaff
Photo and article from Reuters
European stocks are at a seven-year high after the European Central Bank presented a bond-buying plan in an attempt to save the continent’s economic issues and avoid deflation.
ECB President Mario Draghi said they would employ quantitative easing paired with existing strategies, which will add 60 billion euros per month into the euro zone economy from March until September of 2016.
Jeanne Asseraf-Bitton, head of global cross-asset research at Lyxor Asset Management, said that “All eyes will be on the euro zone inflation expectations, that’s where we’ll see if the program is a success or not.”
At 1450 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares had risen 0.8 percent at 1,442.53. They have not seen numbers that high since 2008.
Three Euro zone banks: Raiffeisen Bank International, Societe Generale and Commerzbank all saw gains in their banking stocks value at 4.2%, 2.3% and 2.4% respectively.
In the Euro zone economy inflation has fallen to -0.2 percent. The central banks’s target is just under two percent. These plans are intended to combat that inflation reduction.
