Top ECB official warned of risks of delaying money printing in January

Friday, 20 February 2015 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Inflated euro sign is seen outside the new head quarters of the European Central Bank (ECB) in Frankfurt, January 22, 2015. FRANKFURT (Reuters): The ECB’s Chief Economist warned central bankers from around the euro zone of the perils of delaying money printing, according to records of a January meeting of governors that shed light on how policy makers ‘broadly’ agreed to launch the scheme. Speaking to the 22 January gathering of the ECB’s Governing Council, which sets policy, Peter Praet addressed the risks of waiting before launching a scheme to print fresh money to buy government bonds, known as quantitative easing (QE). In the document, which gives the clearest picture yet of how governors decided to launch the scheme, officials reported Praet as telling the meeting: “Due account would also need to be taken of the risks stemming from not acting at the present meeting, which might be higher than the risks stemming from acting.”“A reversal of recent financial market developments could be expected if no further policy measures were announced,” officials write in the record of the meeting. “There was a broadly shared view that the conditions were fully in place for taking additional monetary policy action at the current meeting,” they added.