ECB says no limit on new bond buys, waives seniority

The European Central Bank will not set a limit on how much sovereign debt it can buy under its new bond-buying programme and will not expect better treatment than other creditors as it has in the past, ECB President Mario Draghi said.

"No ex ante quantitative limits are set on the size of outright monetary transactions," Draghi told a news conference on Thursday after the ECB Governing Council's monthly policymaking meeting in Frankfurt.

He said the ECB would waive its senior creditor status on bonds it purchased - meaning it would be treated equally with private creditors in case of default.

"The euro system intends to clarify in the legal act concerning outright monetary transactions that it accepts the same, ie. pari passu, treatment as private or other creditors with respect to bonds issued by euro area countries and purchased by the euro system."

Draghi said the OMT programme, which aims to lower struggling euro zone countries' borrowing costs, will focus on sovereign bonds of between one and three years' maturity.