Reuters Poll: ECB won't hike rates before QE ends - traders

(Reuters) - The European Central Bank won't raise interest rates before winding up its asset purchase program, which is scheduled to end in December, a Reuters poll of euro money market traders showed on Monday.

Last week the ECB pledged to extend its bond buying program to at least the end of the year, citing weak underlying inflation and lackluster growth in the euro zone.

Some central bank policymakers raised the possibility at the meeting of raising interest rates before bond purchases end but did not receive broad support, according to sources.

All but two of the 21 traders polled who answered an additional question said the ECB would not hike rates before phasing out QE.

In a regular survey on the ECB's weekly refinancing operations, the median forecast said banks would borrow 23.5 billion euros ($25.1 billion), slightly less than the 23.9 billion euros maturing from last week.

(Reporting by Shrutee Sarkar; Polling by Krishna Eluri; Editing by Toby Chopra)

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