However, analysts predict ECB President Mario Draghi to prepare markets for an extension of its huge monetary stimulus program amid talk that massive bond purchases may be drying up. The ECB’s governing council has tasked some committees to examine ways to avoid running out of bonds to buy. Its own rules prevent the bank from purchasing bonds with a yield below the rate of interest it pays on deposits, currently -0.4 percent. ECB governors look likely to put off any stimulus decisions until their December meeting, with several potential upsets on the calendar next month. Britain was the euro area’s second-largest export customer after the US in 2015, buying 13.5 percent of the bloc’s goods sold abroad.

Source: Daily News Egypt October 20, 2016 12:33 UTC