BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - Eurozone's strengthening economy suggest that it may be time to think of modest tightening of monetary policy, European Central Bank policymaker Ardo Hansson said in an interview published Wednesday.
'The economy is in much better shape than it was a while ago...in this situation I think it's better to think of making mild adjustments to policy to have it slightly less accomodative than it was before,' Hansson, who is a member of the ECB Governing Council, said in an interview to the Handelsblatt newspaper.
The ECB is set to announce its latest policy decision on October 26. The bank's asset purchases of EUR 60 billion a month are set to end in December.
Economists widely expect the bank to extend its asset purchases till September 2018, but at a reduced size.
Hansson, who heads the Estonian central bank, said nothing has been decided yet, but added that he would personally like to see the bank on a path to trimming the size of asset purchases.
The policymaker also suggested adjusting the mix in the asset purchase scheme to include more corporate bonds and less government debt.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX