Helicopter money

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde drew the line on how far the ECB could go in helping virus-stricken eurozone countries on Wednesday, saying lending to governments directly would be illegal and handing out cash to citizens difficult.

The ECB, expected to hold fire on monetary policy at its meeting Thursday, will likely focus instead on welcoming Greece back into the fold of fully-fledged eurozone borrowers after a bailout deal, analysts said.

The European Central Bank, meeting in Cyprus on Thursday, is set to update its economic forecasts and reveal details of its new bond purchase programme, analysts said.

Greece will also be high on the agenda of the ECB's decision-making governing council, following the recent eurozone deal to extend aid to the debt-wracked country, the experts said.