ECB announces end of quantitative easing

Interest rates held

The European Central Bank (ECB) will bring an end to its €2.6trn bond-buying programme at the end of the year.

As expected, the Bank maintained interest rates at current levels, adding these levels would be maintained until "at least" through the summer of 2019, or "for as long as necessary". This historic moment comes six years after ECB President Mario Draghi said he would do "whatever it takes" to support the eurozone economies, which resulted in the ECB launching its bond-buying programme in 2015. In a statement, the governing council said: "Regarding non-standard monetary policy measures, the net purchases under the asset purchase programme will end in December." Despite bringing an en...