Bundesbank opposition to ECB asset purchases highlighted in interview. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann criticised the ECB’s decision to embark on private-sector asset purchases, while also characterising calls for sovereign bond quantitative easing as a ‘dangerous path’. Some investors were left disappointed by the outcome of last week’s ECB meeting, where Draghi signalled that purchases of government bonds are far from imminent, and yesterday’s comments from Weidmann served to highlight the continued stiff German opposition to such measures. Weidmann exposed some of the rifts between euro-zone members further by calling for fiscal responsibility, supporting a potential move by the EU Commission to reject France’s 2015 budget plan, which will miss the EU’s deficit targets.



