If Spain requests a bailout, the European Central Bank (ECB) would buy bonds 'heavily' for one to two months under its Outright Monetary Transactions (OMT) programme.

It would then suspend purchases during an assessment period, Reuters reports, citing senior central bank sources.

The assessment period may last one or two months while 'Troika' inspectors (from the European Central Bank, European Commission, and International Monetary Fund) study whether a country, in this case Spain, is meeting the conditions of its aid programme.

At that point, the ECB would decide whether it resumes its bond purchases.

Sources have also said that German central bank Bundesbank, which opposes the OMT programme, would still participate in the bond-buying, which would be conducted by national central banks based on their share of ECB capital, Reuters reports.

SC

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