ECB Weidmann Friday emphasised his criticism....>

ECB: ECB Weidmann Friday emphasised his criticism about the open-ended asset

purchase program of the Central Bank. "A less distinct loosening of monetary

policy in the next year and setting a clear end date for net asset purchases

would have been justified -- also against the backdrop of increasing risks and

side-effects, the longer monetary policy remains ultra-loose," Weidmann said in

a speech at the European Banking Congress in Frankfurt. Weidmann admitted, given

the rather subdued inflationary pressure at present, that an accommodative

monetary policy stance "remains appropriate". But warned "wemust be attuned to

the fact that the economic recovery has progressed further than inflation

figures currently suggest, and that domestic price pressures will gradually

increase in keeping with a path towards our definition of price stability".