By David Barwick – BUDAPEST (Econostream) – Former European Central Bank Governing Council member Klaas Knot on Monday said economic fragmentation required monetary authorities to monitor inflation expectations closely, while avoiding unnecessary damage from excessive policy action.
By David Barwick and Marta Vilar – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Following is the transcript of the interview conducted by Econostream on 11 May 2026 with Martin Kocher, Governor of the Austrian National Bank and member of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank:
By Marta Vilar and David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – A European Central Bank interest rate hike should not be considered the baseline for June, although keeping rates unchanged through year-end would be difficult if price developments failed to improve, according to ECB Governing Council member Martin Kocher.
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – Following is the full transcript of the interview conducted by Econostream on 6 May 2026 with Rasa Kavolytè, Director of State Treasury Department of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Lithuania.
Rasa Kavolytė, Director of Lithuanian Treasury: Still have up to €2.5 billion to raise via syndications in 2026 Kavolytė: We prefer launching new benchmarks in syndicated transactions Kavolytė: Investor demand strongest in the belly of the curve Kavolytė: No green bond issuance planned in the near term Kavolytė: No current plans to target institutional investors with defense bonds Kavolytė: Lithuania not planning to extend defense bond program to longer maturities
By David Barwick – BUDAPEST (Econostream) – Former European Central Bank Governing Council member Klaas Knot on Monday said economic fragmentation required monetary authorities to monitor inflation expectations closely, while avoiding unnecessary damage from excessive policy action.
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and Governing Council member Joachim Nagel reacted on Monday to losses in the bond market due to the ongoing war in the Middle East.
By David Barwick – BUDAPEST (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Martin Kocher on Monday said the euro’s international attractiveness had recently increased, citing international debt issuance and foreign demand for Eurozone assets.
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Boris Vujčić said on Sunday that current conditions in Croatia lie between the baseline and adverse scenarios outlined by the Croatian National Bank, adding that the severe scenario would materialize if the shock persists for several months.
By Laura Contemori – ROME (Econostream) – The German Finance Agency (Finanzagentur) on Monday allotted €3.893 billion via the reopening of two Bubill lines.
By Laura Contemori – ROME (Econostream) – Agence France Trésor (AFT) on Monday allotted €7.997 billion of fixed-rate discount Treasury bills (BTFs) at auction.
By Laura Contemori – ROME (Econostream) – Slovakia’s Ministry of Finance accepted €569 million of bids across four government bond lines in the competitive part of an auction on Monday, with total demand reaching €1.121 billion, according to results published by ARDAL.
By Laura Contemori – ROME (Econostream) – The European Commission, on behalf of the European Union, on Monday raised €6.462 billion through an auction of EU-Bonds across three maturities.
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – Econostream’s ECB Tone Meter fluctuated within slightly hawkish territory this week for the Governing Council, ultimately remaining broadly unchanged and ending just a touch more hawkish than last week, while the Executive Board edged more clearly lower but also stayed slightly hawkish.
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Chief Economist Philip Lane’s speech late Wednesday on energy supply shocks will come across to some as another building block in the case for a June rate hike. It is, however, more cautious than that: it takes the framework ECB President Christine Lagarde laid out in March and shows why June’s policy decision remains an open question.
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – We wouldn’t claim that European Central Bank Governing Council member Martin Kocher sounded on balance like a dove in our just-published interview with him, but to the extent he reflects the current thinking of Council hawks, the case for a June hike may still hang in the balance.
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde has not undone the hawkish signal of April 30, when she suggested that “directionally, I know where we're heading.” Still, she has made clearer that June 11 may be more open than markets believed.
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – Econostream’s ECB Tone Meter moved further into hawkish territory this week, with both the Governing Council and Executive Board indices penetrating deeper into the slightly hawkish range between +0.5 and +2.5.