ECB considers bond purchases up to €500bn

ECB staff have presented policymakers with models for buying as much as €500bn of investment-grade assets.

Various quantitative-easing options were shown to governors in Frankfurt, this week, including buying only AAA-rated debt or bonds rated at least BBB, said a eurozone central bank official.

A €500bn purchase programme would take the ECB halfway toward its goal of boosting its balance sheet to avert a deflationary spiral in the eurozone.