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TRANSCRIPT: Interview with ECB Governing Council member Šimkus on 27 July 2021

Following is the full transcript of the interview conducted by Econostream on July 27 with Gediminas Šimkus, Chairman of the Board of the Bank of Lithuania and member of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank.

EXCLUSIVE: ECB’s Šimkus: PEPP Flexibility Doesn’t Mean Another Programme Must Also Be Flexible

- What’s important is ‘Eurosystem is ready and can act forcefully to address fragmentation when it’s needed’
- Will certainly discuss asset purchases in the Council later this year when we debate about the PEPP
- Moderately and transitory ‘not about the number at a given moment; it’s about the intention’

ECB’s Holzmann: Better Forward Guidance Wouldn’t Bind Us Too Far Into the Future

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Robert Holzmann on Tuesday said that the ECB’s new forward guidance would be better if it did not tie monetary policymakers’ hands so far into the future.

ECB’s Panetta Acknowledges Pandemic Crisis Phase Coming to an End

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Executive Board member Fabio Panetta on Tuesday implicitly acknowledged that the pandemic crisis phase is coming to an end.

ECB’s de Cos: Should Consider Giving Future Purchase Programmes Some of PEPP’s Flexibility

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – The value of being able to conduct asset purchases with the flexibility of the European Central Bank’s pandemic emergency purchase programme (PEPP) suggests giving consideration to equipping future purchase programmes with a degree of flexibility as well, ECB Governing Council member Pablo Hernández de Cos said Tuesday.

ECB’s Vasle: Seeing Broad-Based Economic Recovery in Euro Area

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – The economy of the euro area is improving on a broad basis, European Central Bank Governing Council member Boštjan Vasle said Friday.

ECB’s Wunsch: Not Comfortable with Length of Commitment of New Forward Guidance

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Pierre Wunsch said Friday that his opposition to the ECB’s new forward guidance reflected his uneasiness about a commitment of the duration the guidance could imply.

ECB’s Weidmann: Newly Worded Forward Guidance Went Too Far

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – The European Central Bank’s revision of its forward guidance based on the new strategy framework went too far, ECB Governing Council member and German Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann said Friday.

ECB’s Villeroy: Revised Forward Guidance Means We Need a Close-Up View of 2%

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member François Villeroy de Galhau said Friday that the ECB’s revised forward guidance was a ‘strong answer’ to the question of how the ECB would achieve its new inflation objective.

ECB Insight: New Strategy to Give Doves Some Breathing Room on Thursday

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Thursday’s meeting of the European Central Bank’s Governing Council will be a matter more than anything else of taking a first and important stab at the question of how the new strategy is to shape monetary policy. The answer is less likely to please the hawks, but the doves should take care not to overplay their hand.

German Bundesbank: Germany Could Regain Pre-Pandemic Output Levels in 3Q

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – The German economy could regain pre-pandemic output levels in the current quarter, the German Bundesbank said on Monday in its latest monthly report.

ECB Insight: Kazimir, Vasle Unlikely to Close Ranks With the Hawks Next Week

By David Barwick – LJUBLJANA (Econostream) – If the going gets tough for the hawks at the European Central Bank Governing Council’s monetary policy meeting next week, their Slovakian and Slovenian colleagues seem unlikely to come to the rescue.

ECB’s Kazimir: Council to Talk About Good Economic Outcome, but Also Recognise Fragility

By David Barwick – LJUBLJANA (Econostream) – The European Central Bank Governing Council is going to discuss the improvement in the economic situation while also recognising the persistent fragility of the public health situation, Council member Peter Kazimir said Friday.

ECB’s Vasle: Current ECB Policy Stance Still More Beneficial Than Harmful

By David Barwick – LJUBLJANA (Econostream) – The current policy stance of the European Central Bank is still beneficial on balance even considering side effects, ECB Governing Council member Boštjan Vasle said Friday.

ECB’s Makhlouf: Our Decisions Depend on Economy, Health Measures and Fiscal Support

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Gabriel Makhlouf on Friday said that the ECB’s decisions would depend on the economy, the removal of pandemic containment measures and the withdrawal of fiscal support.

ECB Insight: Visco Still Fighting the Same Battle, Just a Bit Better Equipped

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member and Banca d’Italia Governor Ignazio Visco on Thursday shared his interpretation of the outcome of the ECB’s monetary policy strategy review, an interpretation naturally favouring monetary accommodation but otherwise thoroughly redolent of his traditional diagnoses and prescriptions.

ECB’s Villeroy: Delta Variant Not the Main Threat to the French Economy

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member François Villeroy de Galhau said Thursday that the delta variant of the coronavirus was not the main risk to the French economy, but rather that the insufficiency of labour was.

ECB Brief: Schnabel Reveals Unsuspected Optimism About Regaining Price Stability

ECB’s Schnabel: Optimistic We’ll Hit Inflation Target Sooner Than Some Expect

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Executive Board member Isabel Schnabel said on Wednesday that she was optimistic about prospects for a return to price stability sooner than some anticipate.

ECB’s Makhlouf: ‘Transitory … Is Even Less Than the Word Temporary’

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Gabriel Makhlouf on Wednesday played down the meaning of the word ‘transitory’ in the ECB’s new monetary policy strategy.