Interview with Volker Wieland: "Bond purchase volume is extremely high" (Börsen-Zeitung)

In Volker Wieland's opinion, the legal examination of the European Central Bank's (ECB) monetary policy by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) is justified. The Federal Constitutional Court referred several questions regarding government bond purchases to the ECJ for a preliminary ruling, which "actually should be checked", Wieland said in an interview with "Börsen-Zeitung".

In Wieland's view, the Public Sector Purchase Programme (PSPP) was clearly oriented towards monetary policy purposes. The purchase and sale of government bonds was a common instrument of monetary policy, Wieland said. However, he remained skeptical regarding the conditions for limiting risks and avoiding direct monetary financing. The self-imposed restrictions by the ECB regarding the issue share limits and the minimum interest rate may not be complied with, according to Wieland.

In his opinion, "the bond purchase volume is extremely high". Besides, the economic recovery in the euro area would already have justified phasing out the bond purchases. Regarding the outcome of the ECJ's legal examination, Wieland was also skeptical: "There is reason to fear that the EC will once again overshoot the mark".

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