ECB Launches Massive Bond-Buying Plan to Spur Growth  

The European Central Bank (ECB) will buy EUR 60B in assets per month from March 2015 until end-September 2016 to stimulate flagging economic growth in Europe, the bank's President Mario Draghi announced on Thursday.

The package aims to stimulate the economy of the eurozone by fending off deflation. Eurozone inflation turned to negative of minus 0.2% last month, way below the ECB target of just below 2%.

Speaking at a news conference in Frankfurt, Draghi said that the combined monthly purchases of EUR 60B in public and private sector securities "will in any case be conducted until we see a sustained adjustment in the path of inflation." 

According to Piroska Nagy, an economist at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) the ECB bond purchases would "clearly be a positive" for the economies of eastern Europe.

"Monetary easing can have a positive impact on the economies that are linked to the zone conducting this policy," Bloomberg quoted Nagy as saying.

While most eastern European countries don't yet use the euro, they stand to gain as the ECB monetary stimulus package encourages cross-border lending and boosts growth in the eurozone, their main trading partner.