ECB Reiterates Plan to Halt Bond Purchases in December

The European Central Bank has signalled that market turmoil and mounting risks to the eurozone economy will not deter it from withdrawing one of the most important strands of its crisis-era stimulus, after it confirmed plans to halt the expansion of its quantitative easing programme by the end of this year.

Speaking in Frankfurt on Thursday, bank president Mario Draghi said he remained confident in the eurozone’s “broad-based economic expansion”. He also said he believed the Italian government — which is defying EU spending rules with its budget plans — would reach agreement with the European Commission.