IMF chief hails ECB's move
The European Central Bank's decisions have been hailed by International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde.
"We strongly welcome the ECB's new framework, the Outright Monetary Transactions (OMT), for intervention in sovereign bond markets of countries accepting EFSF (European Financial Stability Fund) and ESM (European Stability Mechanism) support for their macroeconomic adjustment programmes and adhering to the associated structural and fiscal reform efforts.
The IMF stands ready to cooperate within our frameworks," Lagarde said in a statement released in Washington.
"Decisive implementation of the new intervention programme will help repair monetary transmission, and support countries' efforts to secure finance at a reasonable cost while they undertake sustained macroeconomic adjustment. We see the ECB's action as an important step toward strengthening stability and growth in the euro area."
To be purchased are the government securities repayable in three years or fewer. ECB also said it would buy unlimited amounts of the bonds.
"We will have a fully effective backstop to avoid destructive scenarios with potentially severe challenges for price stability in the euro area."
