Nowotny points to Q4 as the timeline

ECB officials were earlier reported to see no urgency to change QE rules in order to meet the quota of 80 billion euros per month. Market watchers have long noted that with so many bonds yielding below the -0.4% ECB deposit rate, that there wasn't enough supply.

But for now, that isn't a problem. The ECB's Nowotny spoke to APA today and said "it will be decided in the fourth quarter of 2016 which signals will be given to the markets as to the further developments of the purchase program."

The program is currently slated to end in March 2017 but many economists see a 6-9 month extension.

What's not clear is if Nowotny is referring to expanding/extending the program or some of the technical tweaks needed to ease the shortage. In any case, both reports seem to argue there is no rush.