ECB says bought 348 million euros in corporate bonds

The European Central Bank said Monday it bought 348 million euros ($393 million) worth of corporate bonds on the first day of including company debt in its extended asset purchase programme known as QE or quantitative easing. The ECB recently decided to expand its QE programme, which had previously been restricted to sovereign debt, to include corporate debt as well with the aim of encouraging companies to invest more and help get the eurozone economy back on its feet. The first corporate bond purchases were effected on June 8 on the so-called secondary market where the bonds had already been issued.