ECB boosts bond purchases as crisis endures

Last week ECB purchased sovereign bonds worth €7.986 bn as Italian bonds hit record level and borrowing cost also surged elsewhere in the European region. The ECB did not disclose distribution of debt-purchase amounts by maturity or country. Market pressure forced ECB to renew bond buying in August. On Tuesday ECB claimed to withdraw €194.5 bn from market with a maximum acceptable bid rate at 1.25% to offset potential inflationary effect from massive bond purchases.