Bundesbank president and member of the ECB governing council Jens Weidmann laid bare the disagreement among policy makers, speaking in Paris on Friday.
Following the ECB’s announcement on Thursday that the bank’s bond buying program will continue for most of next year, Weidmann made no bones about his opposition.
“From my point of view, a clear ending to the net sales [of bonds to the ECB] should have been indicated,” the Financial Times reported Weidmann as saying.
The announcement Thursday set out plans to extend the QE until September 2018 and perhaps until the end of next year.
“We are not talking about putting the brakes on monetary policy, but merely about not pushing down on the accelerator further,” Weidmann implored. “Against the backdrop of the ongoing, increasingly broad economic upswing, I do not think it is necessary … In the short term the economy could grow even more strongly than previously expected.”
Kicking the can down the road?