ECB to halt expansion of €2.6tn QE programme

The European Central Bank has called time on its contentious experiment in bolstering its balance sheet to support the eurozone economy, confirming on Thursday that it will halt the expansion of its €2.6tn bond-buying programme this month.

In a widely expected decision on its quantitative easing policy, the governing council said “the net purchases under the asset purchase programme . . . will end in December 2018.”