ANALYST VIEWS: HOW MUCH MORE DEBT IS THE ECB LIKELY TO BUY?
ANDREW LILICO | EUROPE ECONOMICS
If the ECB was to keep up the level of buying seen last week then it would turn into an awful lot of money, but I don’t think it will. They’re just keeping the wheels on the bus until they see Merkel and Sarkozy coming up with a credible solution. It should be a stop gap until politicians make their decisions.
CHRISTIAN SCHULZ | BERENBERG BANK
What I hear in the markets is that the ECB started with strong buying and became more selective as the week went on. It took less than last year to reassure the markets. It is feasible that they could buy around €150bn in Italian and Spanish bonds in a similar time-frame, this year.
TOBIAS S BLATTNER | DAIWA CAPITAL MARKETS
The amount spent last week, albeit impressive, will not be sufficient on its own as markets want to be reassured that the ECB is committed to keep yields at levels of around five per cent. For this to happen, we estimate that the ECB will have to spend another €1-2bn per day up until the EFSF is up and running.