That could be a lot bigger than the "limited and finite" purchases we saw under the SMP.
In one way, the OMT initiative is more restricted than the SMP, which did not specify maturities.
ECONOMIST: Has Mario Draghi done what it takes to save the euro?
Mr Draghi said they would involve short-dated debt - not the longer term government bonds included in the SMP.
It means that future bond purchases - if they happen - will not involve the Securities Markets Programme (SMP).
Yet Mario Draghi, the ECB's president, has made clear that any use of the SMP should be temporary and limited.
Certainly, the removal of seniority status will make this version of the SMP more likely to help than its previous editions.
He wants it to form a coherent part of the ECB's monetary policy machinery, rather than an awkward add-on, like the SMP.
In particular, Spain has so far given no indication that it is prepared to request help from the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) or SMP.
The ECB has been buying sovereign bonds since May 2010 through its Securities Markets Programme (SMP), supposedly for monetary purposes but in reality to bring down yields in places like Italy and Spain.
ECONOMIST: Has Mario Draghi done what it takes to save the euro?
The ECB first intervened in the market through the SMP, through which the ECB used existing funds to purchase bonds of various member states in an effort to keep their borrowing costs down.
He said the SMP would continue on precisely the same terms as before, which some took as a break with his predecessor, Jean-Claude Trichet, who had suggested it would end when the eurozone's rescue fund was operational.
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