By Marta Vilar – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said on Thursday that risks to the outlook remained broadly balanced and there was nothing materially altering the ECB’s baseline scenario.
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – Following is the full transcript of the interview conducted by Econostream on 3 February 2026 with Karol Czarnecki, Director of the Public Debt Department at the Polish Ministry of Finance:
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – Poland could issue a USD benchmark bond in the first half of 2026, while returning to the euro market is also a possibility for the second part of the year, according to Karol Czarnecki, Director of the Public Debt Department at the Polish Ministry of Finance.
By David Barwick – VILNIUS (Econostream) – Following is the transcript of a brief chat on Wednesday, 28 January 2026 with European Central Bank Governing Council member Gediminas Šimkus, chairman of the Bank of Lithuania:
By David Barwick – VILNIUS (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Gediminas Šimkus on Wednesday rejected calls to react too quickly to the strengthening of the euro versus the dollar.
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – With the rate decision a foregone conclusion, Thursday’s European Central Bank press conference was mostly a test of whether President Christine Lagarde would let a turbulent couple of weeks pull the ECB’s messaging off its well-worn neutral track. She did not.
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – With rates to remain unchanged, Thursday’s press conference is mainly a test of message discipline. Recent news has been the kind that some observers treat as inviting reactive messaging, but for months the European Central Bank has kept its tone firmly neutral, and that is the posture we expect again this week.
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – A rapid euro climb toward the psychologically loaded $1.20 area has reopened a recurring question: when does an exchange rate move become a monetary policy problem?
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Croatian National Bank Governor Boris Vujčić’s elevation to the ECB vice presidency has turned Bank of Finland Governor Olli Rehn’s next opportunity into a conditional one. The calendar leaves room for at most one more smaller-country appointment before late 2028, and whether that path exists depends critically on what Spain manages to claim in the 2027 succession contest.
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – The ECB’s tone in our ECB Tone Meter moved slightly dovish this week, both for the Governing Council overall and for the Executive Board, as the quiet period began on Thursday. The former settled at 0.00, effectively neutral, while the latter eased to +0.05, remaining marginally positive and therefore still slightly hawkish.