ECB’s Jens Weidmann drops opposition to green standards affecting bond purchases

FRANKFURT: European Central Bank policymaker Jens Weidmann opened the door on Wednesday to buying fewer bonds from polluting companies under the ECB’s stimulus programmes, dropping his opposition to taking such an active role in the fight against climate change.

“If no adequate solution can be found here, the Eurosystem would have to adopt alternative measures… for example by limiting the maturities or the amount of corporate bonds of certain sectors and issuers in the Eurosystem’s monetary policy portfolio,” he said.