5 Mar 2015
ECB: Greece covered in press conference - ING
FXStreet (Guatemala) - Analysts at ING noted that during the press conference, there were also several questions on Greece, QE and ELA.
Key Quotes:
"The bottom line of Draghi’s answers was that the ECB would only buy government bonds rated lower than investment grade if the countries are in a bailout programme and the programme is not in a review period."
"Moreover, the ECB could not buy more than 33% of a single issuer."
"For Greece, all of this means that the ECB could at the earliest start purchasing Greek bonds only in June or July, if and when Greece has reimbursed the bond expiring in June which the ECB had (partly) purchased under the old SMP programme."
"Finally, Draghi also said that ELA for Greek banks had been extended by 500 million euro. The ECB’s stance on Greece has definitely not softened."
Key Quotes:
"The bottom line of Draghi’s answers was that the ECB would only buy government bonds rated lower than investment grade if the countries are in a bailout programme and the programme is not in a review period."
"Moreover, the ECB could not buy more than 33% of a single issuer."
"For Greece, all of this means that the ECB could at the earliest start purchasing Greek bonds only in June or July, if and when Greece has reimbursed the bond expiring in June which the ECB had (partly) purchased under the old SMP programme."
"Finally, Draghi also said that ELA for Greek banks had been extended by 500 million euro. The ECB’s stance on Greece has definitely not softened."