(AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert). Eurogroup President and Portugal's Finance Minister Mario Centeno, left and European Central Bank President Mario Draghi arrive for an Eurogroup finance ministers meeting at the EU Council in Brussels on Monday, Jan. ... FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) - A survey of German business confidence has matched its all-time high, providing more upbeat data ahead of the European Central Bank's policy meeting.
The bank's governing council gathers as markets wait for clues from bank president Mario Draghi at a news conference on how long the ECB will continue its bond-purchase stimulus now that growth is strong.
The bank says it'll keep buying 30 billion euros ($36 billion) per month in bonds at least through September. The step pumps newly printed money into the economy to raise still-weak inflation. No changes are expected Thursday.
Germany's Ifo index rose to 117.6 points in January from 117.2 in December, matching an all-time high from November. The reading follows business activity surveys that also show a strong upswing in the 19-country eurozone.
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