Oct. 31 (Bloomberg) -- The European Central Bank bought Italian government bonds, according to two people familiar with the transactions, who declined to be identified because the trades are confidential.

A spokesman for the ECB in Frankfurt declined to comment when contacted today by phone.

To contact the reporter on this story: Keith Jenkins in London at kjenkins3@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Daniel Tilles at dtilles@bloomberg.net