FRANKFURT — The European Central Bank will have nearly 130 billion euros (£114.7 billion) worth of cash from maturing bonds to invest, providing a key stimulus as its new bond purchases drop, fresh data showed on Monday. Having already bought 2.2 trillion euros worth of bonds to depress borrowing costs, the ECB has started to shift its focus from new purchases, arguing that its bloated balance sheet will provide the bulk of accommodation needed to lift inflation. New buys will be cut in half to 30 billion euros a month from January and markets expect the ECB to end purchases by the end of the year. Advertisement Continue reading the main storyBond buys in Germany, the euro zone's biggest economy, were about 300 million euros below the capital key. They also trailed in Portugal and dropped to zero in Ireland, where the ECB already has sizable bond holdings.

Source: New York Times November 06, 2017 15:56 UTC