ECB has no plans to end bond buying stimulus early: Yves Mersch

The European Central Bank is reportedly satisfied with the effects of its massive asset purchase programme on the economy and inflation and has no intention of ending it prematurely, according to ECB Executive Board member Yves Mersch.

The ECB's bond buying programme is set to last at least until September 2016, but some economists have speculated that given its early positive effects, the central bank could be persuaded to cut it short.

But Mersch told Luxembourg radio on 16 May that there were no such plans.

Mersch said that the ECB expected eurozone inflation will stay close to zero until autumn of this year, before starting to rise at the end of the year towards 1.5%.

He added that price growth might reach the ECB's target of inflation below, but close to 2% over the medium term towards the end of 2016, Reuters reported.

"We have based all our previsions on a projection where we see that growth is picking up, that inflation is getting closer to the inflation target, and that would be the case if we bought [€]60bn every month.

"If we stopped now, we would call into question our whole projection. We are currently on a trajectory, we believe in that trajectory, that trajectory so far seems to confirm to us that we are right. And therefore there is no reason to say: No, we are now calling into question everything again."

In March, the ECB began buying €60bn worth of eurozone government bonds a month to infuse more cash into the economy and reverse a trend of falling prices.