Holzmann did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and an ECB spokesman declined to comment. A few policymakers initially pushed for a 50-basis-point increase but they joined the majority in return for a pledge to communicate that more hikes were needed in the coming months, and for a decision to stop all purchases under the ECB's Asset Purchase Programme, the sources added. Some policymakers, they said, privately anticipate at least two if not three more hikes by the ECB, which has already raised rates seven times since last July by a total 375 basis points.
Policymakers at Thursday's meeting were unanimous that
the ECB should not sell bonds under its APP even after it stops
replacing those that mature in July, the sources said.
(Reporting By Francesco Canepa, Balazs Koranyi and Frank
Siebelt, editing by Mark Heinrich)