DUBLIN: The European Central Bank will buy about €12 billion in Irish sovereign bonds in its quantitative easing campaign to spur growth and prices in the euro zone.
Although German criticism of the endeavour intensified yesterday, European shares delivered their biggest weekly gain in more than three years as investors cheered the ECB plan.
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The QE package continued to fan the euro’s slide against the dollar as it fell in a matter of hours through $1.13, $1.12 and then to $1.1115, its biggest daily drop for more than three years.
Analysts at UBS investment bank in London estimated that the ECB might buy some €11.3 billion in Irish bonds.
While the Central Bank of Ireland had no comment on the UBS assessment or on the likely scale of Irish bond purchases by the ECB, in Irish official circles the figure mentioned is some €12 billion.
Most of the interest the Government pays on this debt will return to the Exchequer by way of dividends from the Central Bank, which will hold bonds for the ECB. Estimates point to an annual boost to the public finances of between €300 million and €500 million by the end of the 19-month QE campaign.
