Germans give leeway on bond buying

Jörg Asmussen, the German representative on the ECB's executive board, on Monday stressed the bank's willingness to embark on further government bond purchases, thus contradicting the position of Bundesbank head Jens Weidmann. This difference of opinions among Germany's central bankers will give ECB President Mario Draghi more leeway, the left-liberal business paper Cinco Días predicts: "Free at last. Less than a year after he was appointed ECB head Mario Draghi can now finally begin the second phase of his mandate: the realisation of his plan to go on a big government bond shopping spree. At next week's meeting of the executive board he will no longer come up against a united front of the German representatives. This will give his plans greater credibility. And in the long run it will give Draghi a free hand to improve the functioning of the ECB. … Asmussen's support is important because it undermines Weidmann's opposition, reducing it to just one opinion among many rather than the united stance of the most important member of the Eurozone."

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