A leading dissenter from the European Central Bank's trillion-euro stimulus says the program wasn't needed to ward off chronic deflation and takes pressure off governments to carry out key budget and economic reforms.
Jens Weidmann said Thursday that it "was not necessary to further loosen monetary policy through large-scale bond purchases."
Weidmann is head of Germany's national central bank and a member of the ECB's 25-member governing council.
Weidmann said there was little evidence that inflation of minus 0.3 per cent annually was becoming entrenched in a downward spiral that could kill off growth and jobs.
The ECB this week started buying government bonds with newly created money, a step aimed at raising inflation and stimulating growth.
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