The ECB said it would buy government bonds from this March until the end of September 2016 despite opposition from Germany’s Bundesbank and concerns in Berlin that it could allow spendthrift countries to slacken economic reforms.

Together with existing schemes to buy private debt and funnel hundreds of billions of euros in cheap loans to banks, the new quantitative easing programme will pump 60 billion euros a month into the economy, ECB President Mario Draghi said.

The euro tumbled after the announcement, losing more than 1% against the dollar to trade at $1.1453, an 11-year low. A weaker currency should help boost inflation by making European exports cheaper.

The prospect of dramatic ECB action had already prompted the Swiss central bank to abandon its cap on the franc while Denmark, whose currency is pegged to the euro, was forced to cut interest rates in anticipation of the flood of money.

The euro fell, European shares jumped and bond yields in Italy, Spain and Portugal fell with the single currency dropping a full cent against the dollar to $1.1511.

Greece  and Cyprus, which remain under EU/IMF bailout programmes, will be eligible but subject to stricter conditions.

“Some additional eligibility criteria will be applied in the case of countries under an EU/IMF adjustment programme,” Draghi said.

Benchmark oil contracts turned negative on Thursday after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi announced the bank would begin buying $60 billion in securities a month in March as part of a quantitative easing program.