[FRANKFURT] The European Central Bank Executive Board has proposed quantitative easing of 50 billion euros (US$58 billion) a month until the end of 2016, two euro-area central-bank officials said.

The proposal will be discussed starting today by the ECB's decision-making Governing Council, which could still change the design significantly, the people said, asking not to be identified as the proposal is confidential. Purchases won't start before March 1, one of the people said.

An ECB spokesman declined to comment.

The proposal to inject as much as 1.1 trillion euros reflects President Mario Draghi's determination to expand the ECB's balance sheet to stave off the threat of deflation and put the 19-nation economy back on the path to health.

He'll announce the Governing Council's final decision at a press conference in Frankfurt on Thursday.

BLOOMBERG