Too early for ECB to reduce emergency bond buys: Panetta By Reuters

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – The European Central Bank should not reduce the pace of asset purchases after its June 10 meeting as the economic recovery is still in an early phase and inflation remains too low, ECB board member Fabio Panetta told Nikkei.

“The conditions that we see today do not justify reducing the pace of purchases, and a discussion about phasing out the PEPP is still clearly premature,” Panetta said in an interview.

The 1.85 trillion euro ($2.27 trillion) Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme (PEPP) should first neutralise the effects of the pandemic on inflation then needs to ensure that price pressures become more sustainable, Panetta added.

($1 = 0.8163 euros)