ECB TO INJECT € 1.1 TRILLION IN THE EUROPEAN ECONOMY

The European Central Bank has taken a dramatic step to stimulate the region's troubled economy, unveiling a massive bond buying program worth at least $1.3 trillion. President Mario Draghi said the ECB program would cover public and private sector securities including -- for the first time -- bonds issued by eurozone governments. Even junk-rated bonds from Greece and Cyprus qualify, provided those countries continue to meet the terms of their EU and IMF bailouts.Purchases will begin in March at a monthly rate of 60 billion euros and are intended to continue until the end of September 2016.

Draghi said the programme of quantitative easing could extend beyond that if necessary to achieve a "sustained adjustment in the path of inflation" towards the bank's 2% target.

The ECB took the unprecedented step because previous stimulus measures -- including record low interest rates and buying other assets -- had failed to boost inflation expectations.

The ECB governing council was unanimous in its view that QE was a legitimate tool for the bank to use, and there was a large majority in favor of pulling the trigger now. But experts caution that printing money alone won't be enough to rescue Europe, and that the best the ECB can do is buy time for governments to carry out urgently needed reforms.

For growth to pick up, you need investment, for investment you need confidence, and for confidence you need structural reforms. The ECB has taken a very expansionary measure today, but it's now up to the governments to implement these structural reforms.