ECB’s Kazaks says June decision to slow bond-buying possible

Bloomberg reports that according to Governing Council member Martins Kazaks, the European Central Bank could decide to scale back its emergency bond-buying program as early as next month if the euro-area economy doesn’t deteriorate.

Kazaks said the ECB’s pledge to keep financing conditions favorable remains key to determining how much support the 19-nation bloc needs to recover. 

“If financial conditions remain favorable, in June we can decide to buy less,” Kazaks said. “Flexibility is at the very core of PEPP.

Kazaks, one of 25 policy makers on the Governing Council, said the economy will need significant monetary stimulus well beyond the end of the pandemic. That’s being delivered by emergency bond purchases, negative interest rates, and targeted long-term loans that keep banks’ credit terms for companies and households loose.

His argument suggests that further increases in market interest rates in the weeks and months to come needn’t trigger more ECB support. He said pent-up consumer demand, bank lending and spillovers from massive U.S. fiscal stimulus pose upside risks to the economic outlook.