QE could become part of ECB's normal framework: Finnish official

[HELSINKI] Bond-buying could become a normal part of the eurozone's monetary policy framework, a senior official from the Bank of Finland said on Monday.

"As inflation expectations diverge more strongly from the ECB's monetary policy target, one cannot rule out that the euro system too would resort to means that resemble the quantitative easing by other central banks," Tuomas Valimaki, head of the bank's monetary policy and research department, said in a blog post.

"Could quantitative easing become part of the eurozone's normal monetary policy framework? Hopefully not, but there is no reason to rule that possibility entirely out either."

Sources told Reuters last week the option for bond-buying, or quantitative easing, is among the tools the ECB is preparing ahead of its Jan 22 policy meeting should it decide to act to address falling consumer prices and a growing risk of deflation in the eurozone.

REUTERS