ECB far from having to contemplate stock buys - Coeure

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The European Central Bank has never discussed buying stocks and it is far from having to contemplate such a scheme even though others, like the Bank of Japan have done it, ECB Executive Board Member Benoit Coeure said on Monday.

"It’s in theory possible... I mean we are far from being in a place where we need to do it," Coeure told university students. "It’s clearly not in the discussion today, we’ve never discussed it."

The ECB will at some point start winding down its extraordinary policy accommodation but "not yet", Coeure said, adding that the bank needs a sustained rebound in inflation before scaling back stimulus.

(Reporting by Balazs Koranyi)