BLOOMBERG

ECB's Quantitative Easing Program Is Open-Ended, Visco Says

The European Central Bank's asset-purchase program will continue past September 2016 if it hasn't met its inflation objectives by then, Governing Council member Ignazio Visco said.

"We are open-ended," Visco said on Friday in an interview with Bloomberg Television's Francine Lacqua and Guy Johnson at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. "If we see that there are difficulties in achieving this target that we have, we have to continue."

ECB President Mario Draghi pledged on Thursday to buy 60 billion euros ($68 billion) a month of assets including government bonds through September 2016, adding that buying will "in any case be conducted until we see a sustained adjustment in the path of inflation." The quantitative-easing package is designed to stave off a deflationary spiral in the 19-nation currency bloc by flooding the region with liquidity and pushing investors into riskier assets.

Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2015-01-23/ecb-s-quantitative-easing-program-is-open-ended-visco-says.html

REUTERS

Swedish central bank should consider weakening currency: Borg

(Reuters) - Sweden's central bank should consider steps to weaken the crown to keep the economy competitive after the European Central Bank launched substantial bond-buying on Thursday, former finance minister Anders Borg told Reuters.

Borg, in government until last year and now chair of the Global Financial System Initiative at the World Economic Forum, said the currency was arguably too strong for the good of the economyand the Riksbank had tools to act.

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/22/us-sweden-currency-borg-idUSKBN0KV2A420150122

BLOOMBERG

Oil Climbs as Saudi King's Death Spurs Policy Speculation

Oil rose after the death of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, the biggest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

Futures rallied as much as 3.1 percent inNew York and 2.6 percent in London after the Saudi royal court announced the death in a statement. Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz will succeed Abdullah on the throne. The kingdom, the world's largest crude exporter, led OPEC's decision to maintain its oil-production quota at a meeting in November, exacerbating a global glut that's driven prices lower.

Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2015-01-22/oil-surges-after-saudi-media-reports-king-abdullah-s-death.html