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FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The European Central Bank says it spent
euro6.65 billion ($9.64 billion) last week purchasing government
bonds in an attempt to keep the continent’s debt crisis from
pushing Italy and Spain into financial collapse.
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The purchases announced on the bank’s Twitter feed compare to
euro14.3 billion last week and euro22 billion the week
before.
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The purchases raise bond prices and drive down the interest yields
on those bonds. Rising interest rates pushed Greece, Ireland and
Portugal into needing bailout loans.
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Eurozone officials are trying to keep such troubles from spreading
to Italy and Spain, which are considered too large to bail
out.
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The central bank says it expects the eurozone bailout fund to take
over the purchases as soon as national parliaments agree on that in
coming weeks.
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