Nov. 30 (Bloomberg) -- The European Central Bank bought Italian government bonds today, said two people with knowledge of the transactions, who declined to be identified because the deals are private.

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

To contact the reporter on this story: Paul Dobson in London at pdobson2@bloomberg.net

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