The European Central Bank will reaffirm its policy stance at its December meeting, and rate-setters hope to put off debate on new moves until well into next year, five sources with direct knowledge of the discussion told Reuters. After buying 2.2 trillion euros ($2.59 trillion) worth of bonds since March 2015, the ECB decided in October to cut monthly purchases in half, reflecting the euro zone's best economic performance in a decade. But it also extended the scheme by nine months, since inflation is still barely rising. The complex set of decisions pushed out any prospect of a rate increase until 2019, and the ... (full story)