BRUSSELS: The European Central Bank (ECB) yesterday was to begin buying corporate bonds, hoping to convince companies to borrow and spend, in its latest effort to revive rock-bottom inflation in the bloc.
Adding investment-grade euro credit to its 1.74 trillion euros (US$1.98 trillion) of asset purchases, the bank hopes to cut borrowing costs even more. That would give companies incentive to invest, fueling faster growth in the bloc, which is still struggling to overcome the last stages of its debt crisis.
The bank will not set purchase targets and is likely to start slow, prepared for big fluctuations and ramping up over time.