The European Central Bank (ECB) should take into account more favourable financing conditions in discussing the future of its pandemic-related monthly asset purchases, ECB policymaker Francois Villeroy de Galhau said on Monday, according to Reuters.
Villeroy, who is also governor of the Bank of France, said there was no urgency to decide on the future of the Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme (PEPP) at the ECB’s September meeting because, unlike the U.S. Federal Reserve, the ECB could adjust its monthly purchases according to financing conditions.
Speaking on BFM Business radio, Villeroy said that financing conditions in the eurozone had improved since the ECB’s last meeting in June.
„Our discussion should take account of this improvement in financing conditions,” said Villeroy.
Villeroy stated that the economies in France and the eurozone should be back to pre-COVID levels in early 2022 or maybe earlier, that there was no risk of durably higher inflation at this stage.