- Christian Noyer, ECb Governing Council member
Greece's snap general elections on January 25 will not affect the ECB's monetary policy decisions, as the central bank considers whether to deploy QE programme at a meeting on January 22, ECB Executive Board member Benoit Coeure said. Meanwhile, the Governing Council member Christian Noyer said that the ECB should limit the size of any government bond-buying programme to ensure that private sector investors are not crowded out. Such a cap should restrain any ECB purchases to a certain share of each country's outstanding debt. Noyer also said that policy makers are divided on the timing of QE programme launch, as some believe that the central bank should have embarked on the bond-purchase plan months ago, while others deem that the ECB should wait. There are also views that 22 January is the right moment to start. The ECB Governing Council member Ewald Nowotny is one of those, who express such an opinion. He said that the central bank should not wait too long to step up stimulus to underpin fragile recovery and price growth. Nowotny highlighted that "monetary policy has as an impact only after a long delay. That means if I want to do something I should do it sooner rather than later." Policy makers continue to discuss several models of new stimulus, and debate whether to set a target size. The ECB's next policy meeting is due on January 22, with market participants expecting that QE will be announced at the meeting.
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