September ECB meeting: Setting the ground for tapering announcement in October

At its regular monetary policy meeting on Thursday 7 September, the ECB Governing Council kept key policy interest rates unchanged and its asset purchase programme of EUR60bn intact until December 2017 (or beyond if necessary), as widely expected. Nevertheless, at the press conference that followed the conclusion of the meeting, ECB President Mario Draghi confirmed that the bulk of the decisions regarding its QE programme will likely be taken at the October 26 meeting. Although the sequencing of policy normalization was not discussed, Mr. Draghi reiterated that the ECB will not raise its key policy rates until after asset purchases end.