ECB's Knot says accelerated bond purchases temporary until growth recovers

AMSTERDAM: The European Central Bank's (ECB) recent decision to accelerate its bond purchases is a temporary move, meant to reduce borrowing costs until growth and inflation in the monetary union pick up, ECB governing council member Klaas Knot said on Monday.

The ECB earlier this month said that it would increase purchases under its 1.85 trillion euro Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme (PEPP) over the coming months, to prevent a rise in bond yields from derailing economic recovery across the 19 countries that share the euro.

Knot said that a "major part" of the recent rise in euro zone yields was caused by the improving outlook for growth and inflation in the euro area.

But he described the rest as an unwarranted response to rising yields in the United States, where economic fundamentals have improved faster.

"We thought it would be wise to frontload part of our purchases, as a counterweight in the coming months", Knot told reporters at a news conference.

"But as soon as the improvements that we expect materialise, that reason of course will disappear."