ECB weighs looser bond-buying rules: report

The European Central Bank has discussed loosening the rules for bond purchases, Bloomberg reported Thursday, citing unidentified eurozone officials. The ECB is concerned there may not be enough debt available to buy under current criteria following the continued fall in bond yields after last week's Brexit vote, the report said. Some ECB policy makers favor changing the allocation of bond purchases under the bank's quantitative-easing program away from the size of a nation's economy toward one more in line with outstanding debt, the report said. Current rules say national central banks in the euro area can buy bonds sold by governments, agencies and European institutions with yields above the ECB's deposit rate of minus 0.4%, while different rules are in place for purchases of corporate debt and other securities.

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