Euro parity with dollar could be on the cards

With interest rates already at zero, the ECB, as had been widely expected, decided at last week’s council meeting to expand its asset purchase programme to include public debt, in effect launching a full-blown quantitative easing (QE) programme, writes Oliver Mangan.

This latest policy easing move allows for the purchase of government bonds in the secondary market.

The expanded programme is larger than markets expected, at €60bn per month, up from around €10bn at present. The purchase of sovereign and other public bonds will commence in March and the expanded programme is intended to last until at least September 2016.