ECB: Nearly half of bond holdings from Italy

(AP) The European Central Bank says Italian government bonds account for nearly half of its total holdings under a bond-buying program that it launched in 2010.

The ECB on Thursday detailed for the first time what countries' bonds it acquired under the so-called Securities Markets Program, which it started when the euro area's debt crisis first flared in May 2010 and formally ended last September.

The bank holds bonds with a face value of 218 billion ($292 billion) 102.8 billion of them from Italy.

Spain accounted for the second-biggest holding, with bonds nominally worth 44.3 billion. The ECB also holds Greek bonds with a face value of 33.9 billion; Portuguese bonds worth 22.8 billion; and Irish bonds to the tune of 14.2 billion.