ECB’s Hansson: Have not used all of our monetary policy possibilities

The German newspaper, Handelsblatt, published the ECB Governing Council member Hansson’s interview on Wednesday, centered on the timing of the ECB QE taper.

Key Quotes:

“I would personally like to see that we are on a clear path to reducing the level of such purchases”

“What precise date [and] which precise form is still open…but I wouldn’t want to see us several years down the road still thinking about continuing with these purchases”

“You could easily see reducing the level of purchases but partly compensating by doing something else in other areas”

“It's possible to have changes in composition... maybe we buy somewhat less public sector [debt], but why not continue with the private sector?”

“I’ve actually liked these purchases of corporate sector bonds” 

“The economy is in much better shape than it was a while ago…in this situation I think it”s better to think of making mild adjustments to policy to have it slightly less accomodative than it was before”