Markets Await Details From European Central Bank on Balance Sheet

Riccardo Barbieri, Chief European Economist at Mizuho, details what to expect from the European Central Bank's policy meeting on Thursday. Barbieri says ECB president Mario Draghi may clarify that the target is not on the overall size of the balance sheet, but is on the assets the bank can control. He says, considering where the balance sheet was in 2012, the ECB needs to expand by at least $750 billion, but the refinancing operations depends on the behavior of banks. Barbieri says the interesting thing will be to see if the ECB announces a size for the program, as he believes markets will be guessing between $750 billion and $850 billion in additional assets to be held on the balance sheet.