Citigroup Says ECB’s Boost to Pandemic Bond Buying Isn’t Enough
- Increase probably about 150 billion euros below looming debt
- European nations are raising cash to fund recovery efforts
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Even after boosting its pandemic bond buying program, European Central Bank’s stimulus is falling short of the euro area’s funding needs.
Citigroup Inc. estimate that the ECB’s 600-billion-euro ($682 billion) increase to the program will probably be about 150 billion euros below the bloc’s increase in debt supply, according to an emailed note to clients. If the imbalance is exacerbated, the risk is that borrowing costs for some of the euro area’s most-indebted nations, particularly Italy, may rise, just as countries need to be able to spend money uninhibited.