The European Central Bank has announced that it will actively implement its plan to buy bonds issued by eurozone governments on secondary markets, in an attempt to curb the debt crisis.

A cyclist rides past the European Central Bank (ECB) headquarters in Frankfurt, August 4, 2011. The ECB is demanding that Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi commit to fast-track specific welfare reforms and a constitutional amendment enshrining a fiscal rule before it will buy Italian bonds.

But the bank did not say which countries' bonds it would buy in a statement after a crisis conference call on Sunday. Market analysts say they expect the beneficiaries to be Italy and Spain---countries now at the center of the debt crisis. In a statement, the ECB said it welcomed announcements by Spain and Italy on new fiscal and structural policy measures, and it urged both governments to roll them out swiftly.

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