Following the announcement of ECB President Mario Draghi’s plan to persuade bank officials to buy Cypriot and Greek bank loans with “junk” ratings as part of his latest stimulus program, the Athens Stock Exchange marked a significant rise, with the basic share price index reaching 1,090 points.

According to a Financial Times article that was published yesterday, citing sources familiar with the matter, “the ECB’s executive board will propose that existing requirements on the quality of assets accepted by the bank are relaxed to allow the eurozone’s monetary guardian to buy the safer slices of Greek and Cypriot asset backed securities, or ABS”.

More information regarding the Draghi plan will be released tomorrow. In any case the market welcomed these news, as this development is expected to improve liquidity.