By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – Fabio Panetta, usually one of the European Central Bank Governing Council’s more dovish voices (see our Hawk-Dove ranking ), on Tuesday gave his first comments on the Middle East conflict in terms that were less dovish than those of some peers, even if he still stopped well short of backing hikes.
31 March 2026 Central Bank News
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Pierre Wunsch on Tuesday warned against broad support measures to shield households from the Iran-driven energy shock, arguing that such steps would amount to “pouring oil on the fire.”
31 March 2026 Central Bank News
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Madis Müller said Tuesday that an April rate hike could not be ruled out if energy prices stayed elevated for long, warning that the assumptions underpinning Eesti Pank’s latest baseline were already looking too benign.
31 March 2026 Central Bank News
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – François Villeroy de Galhau’s early departure from the presidency of the Banque de France, though mainly a domestic story, is also an early test of how French President Emmanuel Macron wants to allocate national monetary policy talent ahead of the next round of European Central Bank Executive Board openings.
31 March 2026 Central Bank News
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Peter Kažimír on Tuesday warned that the longer the war in Iran drags on and the more damage it causes, “the greater the risk of inflation will be,” meaning the ECB would have to respond “sooner and more decisively.”
31 March 2026 Central Bank News
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Fabio Panetta said on Tuesday that policymakers need to closely track inflation expectations and avoid second-round effects on wages, adding that monetary policy should remain “proportionate and aligned” with the ECB’s mandate.
31 March 2026 Central Bank News
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Yannis Stournaras said on Monday that the ECB would have to respond quickly if the latest energy shock began to generate second-round effects or push inflation expectations off course, even as the euro area entered the episode from a stronger starting position than in 2021-2022.
30 March 2026 Central Bank News
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Yannis Stournaras on Monday said that a prolonged war in the Middle East would produce stagflationary effects for the euro area and could alter monetary-policy decisions if the shock risked feeding into broader inflation.
30 March 2026 Central Bank News
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Chief Economist Philip Lane said Monday that policymakers were assessing the Middle East energy shock in conditions materially different from those of 2022 and would respond without either hesitation or premature action.
30 March 2026 Central Bank News
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member François Villeroy de Galhau said in an interview published Monday that it was too early to discuss any specific timing for interest rate hikes, while stressing that the ECB was ready to tighten if necessary to prevent the latest energy shock from feeding into broader inflation.
30 March 2026 Central Bank News
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Dimitar Radev said on Monday that the medium-term economic effects of the Middle East conflict will depend on how long it lasts and how strongly it feeds into inflation and growth.
30 March 2026 Central Bank News
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Executive Board member Isabel Schnabel on Friday evening made a clear case for patience without remotely taking tightening off the table. Her core message was that the ECB should not let the memory of 2022 stampede it into treating every supply-side shock as the inevitable start of another inflation spiral, especially when the starting conditions—think today—are materially different.
27 March 2026 Central Bank News
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – Econostream’s ECB Tone Meter showed a notable shift in tone this week, with both the Governing Council and the Executive Board moving into what we classify as ‘slightly hawkish’ territory.
27 March 2026 Central Bank News
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – European Central Bank Executive Board member Isabel Schnabel said on Friday that policymakers should remain cautious in responding to the latest energy-driven inflation shock, adding that there was “no need to rush into action.”
27 March 2026 Central Bank News
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Pierre Wunsch said on Friday that an interest rate hike in the April meeting remains possible, but that more evidence is needed before any decision is taken.
27 March 2026 Central Bank News
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Primož Dolenc on Friday said that last week’s decision by the ECB to leave interest rates unchanged reflected excessive uncertainty, but that by the next policy meeting at the end of April there should be more clarity, allowing a better-informed discussion of any possible move.
27 March 2026 Central Bank News
By Marta Vilar and David Barwick – TALLINN (Econostream) – Following is the full transcript of the interview conducted by Econostream on 26 March 2026 with Madis Müller, Governor of Eesti Pank and member of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank:
27 March 2026 Central Bank News
By David Barwick and Marta Vilar – TALLINN (Econostream) – The European Central Bank might not need to wait until broad-based second-round effects are “fully visible” before considering a rate increase, according to ECB Governing Council member Madis Müller.
27 March 2026 Central Bank News
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said on Thursday that expectations of a brief Middle East conflict may be misplaced, warning that its economic impact—particularly on energy supply—could endure for years.
26 March 2026 Central Bank News
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member François Villeroy de Galhau said on Thursday that financial markets had, to some extent, overread recent comments about the timing of possible interest rate increases, stressing that such discussions remain “premature.”
26 March 2026 Central Bank News