European Central Bank has voted to stop its huge bond-buying programme, but interest rates will remain at record lows for a long time * ECB president Mario Draghi is holding a press conference now * ECB has bought more than €2 trillion of government bonds * ECB to end QE bond purchases in December * Euro interest rates on hold until summer 2019 3.46pm BST OVER IN ATHENS MPS HAVE JUST APPROVED THE LAST MULTI-BILL OF REFORMS THE COUNTRY WILL HAVE TO TAKE BEFORE ITS BAILOUT EXPIRES THIS SUMMER. It means fresh austerity and economic reforms for Greece, as our correspondent Helena Smith reports. Final results saw 154 deputies vote in favour of the draft bill – which foresees more pension cuts, labour market regulations, health care measures and sell-offs in the energy sector – and 144 against. The ballot took place in an atmosphere of growing political drama in Athens following the decision of the main opposition conservative party to call a vote of no-confidence in prime minister Alexis Tsipras’ government over its handling of the Macedonia name row, and an accord unveiled earlier this week, that will see the Slavic state being renamed the Republic of North Macedonia. 3.37pm BST HERE’S DANIELLE HARALAMBOUS, UK ANALYST at THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT, ON THE ECB’S ANNOUNCEMENT AND PRESS CONFERENCE: “Mr Draghi acknowledged that risks from an increase in protectionism and financial market volatility had become more prominent, but maintained a relatively positive view of the outlook, brushing off signs of softer economic growth in the euro zone that prompted quite a sizeable a downward revision to the ECB’s forecast for 2018, to 2.1% from 2.4% previously. However higher oil prices and rising domestic cost pressures meant that the bank’s forecasts for inflation went up to 1.7% in both 2018 and 2019, from 1.4% previously. Against this backdrop the ECB felt ready to announce moves towards a less accommodative policy stance, albeit not an overtly hawkish one. Principal payments from maturing securities under the asset purchase programme will continue to be reinvested, and the forward guidance on interest rates demonstrates that the bank is planning to keep policy loose for some time. Mr Draghi added that the ECB stands ready to adjust all of its instruments if necessary. Continue reading...
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