ECB has made government borrowing 1 percentage point cheaper: Lane

[LONDON] The European Central Bank's bond-buying programme has made borrowing over 10 years for Germany, France, Italy and Spain one percentage point cheaper, the ECB's chief economist Philip Lane said on Monday.

"Currently, staff estimate the euro area sovereign ten-year rate to be more than 100 basis points lower than in a counterfactual where the APP never happened, and the curve to be distinctly flatter," Mr Lane told an event in London, referring the effect of the ECB's Asset Purchase Programme (APP) on the bond yields of a weighted average of euro zone's four largest economies.

REUTERS