- Jens Weidmann, European Central Bank Governing Council member
Bundesbank President and ECB council member Jens Weidmann said that is was not prudent for the Eurozone's central bank to signal its next policy decision immediately after the recent interest rate cut. Nevertheless, comments from central bankers hint that policymakers did consider the option of asset purchases, aka quantitative easing, this month. While other leading central banks including the BoE, Fed and BoJ have been using QE, the ECB has declined the move amid fears of stoking inflation. The ECB reiterates that the banks has not reached the "lower bound" on interest rates; however, the prospects of low inflation for a prolonged period has obviously changed its opinion on QE. Moreover, ECB officials including President Mario Draghi said that they may also consider reducing the deposit rate to a negative territory. Executive board member Jorg Asmussen claims that this option cannot be ruled out, but the central bank has to be very cautious in making such a decision.
Meanwhile, some disappointing data came out of the Eurozone's flagship - Germany, as nation's producer prices fell for the third consecutive month in October and at faster pace than forecasted by analysts. The PPI decline annualized 0.7% in October, after the 0.5% drop seen in September. The index was influenced by a 1.9% fall in prices of intermediate goods and energy costs.
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