Previously chief economist Willem Buiter of US bank Citigroup warned of this eventuality.
The ECB tries, with extremely low interest rates and with tens of billions of debt each month, to boost the eurozone by indicating slow economic growth and low inflation. The sharp fall in prices of oil and other commodity price levels, however, remain under pressure.
ECB President Mario Draghi said earlier last month that the central bank would take further measures to increase inflation to the target level of just under 2 percent, if deemed necessary. The duration of the repurchase program has been extended though an increasw in the monthly amount is a possible next step forward.
Doubt
Buiter, however, doubts whether additional support purchases will help at all. “It appears that all the low-hanging fruit has already been plucked,” said Buiter. He pointed out that the ECB interest rates have been at a historically low level for a long time.
Buiter also suggested that eight central banks would work more effectively than other states in the event of panic to calm the financial markets with additional liquidity. But whether purchase programs like those of the ECB and previously the US Federal Reserve actually create more growth and inflation is highly questionable.