LONDON- The ECB's decision to buy 20 billion euros of bonds a month in its restarted stimulus programme should allow it to run for an "extended period of time" before reaching self-imposed limits, the central bank's chief economist said on Monday.
The ECB has put limits on its bond buying to ensure it does not own too large a share of a country's debt or individual bonds.
"Twenty billion (a month) doesn't cause an issue with the limits for an extended period of time," Philip Lane said at an event hosted by Bloomberg on Monday.
He added the bank's policymakers could also "revisit" its limits if they "interfered with the delivery of monetary policy."
(Reporting by Marc Jones; editing by Ritvik Carvalho) ((marc.jones@thomsonreuters.com; +44 (0)207 542 9033; Reuters Messaging: marc.jones.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net Twitter @marcjonesrtrs))
