ECB to stay on course to unwind stimulus

Clearer schedule: A man jogging near the ECB building (right) in Frankfurt. The central bank plans to end bond purchases, commonly known as quantitative easing, at some point in the third quarter. — AP

FRANKFURT: The European Central Bank (ECB) may outline a clearer schedule for unwinding its extraordinary stimulus, as worries over record-high inflation trump concerns about a war-related recession.

The ECB has been reducing the pace of its money-printing programme for months but it has so far avoided committing to an end date for the scheme, worried that the war in Ukraine and sky-high energy prices could suddenly change the outlook.