The European Central Bank's plans to buy rebundled packages of debt have drawn sharp criticism from officials in Germany, including the head of the Bundesbank, the ECB's former chief economist and allies of Chancellor Angela Merkel. On Thursday, the ECB laid out plans to buy repackaged debt and covered bonds, secured on solid assets such as property. It will include buying debt with a "junk" credit rating from Greece and Cyprus, as long as such countries are under a formal international financial programme.