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.
3 February 2026
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – The European Central Bank’s latest Bank Lending Survey (BLS), released on Tuesday, showed that banks tightened credit standards for firms and consumer lending in Q4 2025, while reporting a slight net easing of standards for household mortgages.
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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.
30 January 2026
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – Following is a collection of views expressed by ECB Governing Council members on various topics of high relevance related to next week’s meeting and the further evolution of monetary policy:
29 January 2026
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?
29 January 2026
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – European Central Bank Executive Board member Isabel Schnabel said on Wednesday that interest rates were at a “good place” and were expected to remain at the same levels for a long period.
28 January 2026
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:
28 January 2026
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.
28 January 2026
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member François Villeroy de Galhau said on Wednesday that the ECB was paying close attention to the euro’s appreciation against the US dollar and its potential impact on inflation.
28 January 2026
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Martin Kocher on Wednesday said the ECB may need to consider another interest rate cut if further euro appreciation starts to weigh on its inflation projections.
28 January 2026
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Executive Board member Piero Cipollone on Wednesday said political attacks on the U.S. Federal Reserve are relevant for the ECB only insofar as they affect the euro area inflation outlook.
28 January 2026
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Joachim Nagel on Tuesday said the Eurosystem is preparing to be able to issue a digital euro in 2029, provided legislation is agreed by the end of 2026.
27 January 2026
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Martin Kocher on Tuesday urged policymakers to keep all options open on interest rates in the context of still high global uncertainty and especially prominent trade risks.
27 January 2026
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Gediminas Šimkus on Tuesday signaled that policymakers could move rates in either direction when they next adjusted policy, but that he expected the ECB to keep borrowing costs unchanged at its meeting in the coming week.
27 January 2026
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Joachim Nagel said on Tuesday that the current level of ECB interest rates was appropriate and that there were currently no good reasons to change policy in any direction.
27 January 2026
By David Barwick – LONDON (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Martin Kocher on Monday said that it was self-evident that euro area monetary policy was accomplishing its inflation objective.
26 January 2026
By David Barwick – LONDON (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Martin Kocher on Monday said that democracies favored monetary policy autonomy because the electorate realized the wisdom of committing themselves.
26 January 2026
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Joachim Nagel said on Monday that the economic outlook and projections remain subject to significant uncertainty, with risks that growth could turn out weaker and inflation higher
26 January 2026
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.
26 January 2026
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Executive Board member Piero Cipollone on Sunday argued that a digital euro would provide a simple, widely usable public payment option that lowers fees for merchants while reducing the euro area’s reliance on non-European card networks.
25 January 2026