By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde offered little explanation at Thursday’s press conference for why she is abandoning her mandate nearly nine months early, beyond saying she wants greater freedom to speak and act on matters outside monetary policy.
29 October 2026 | Central Bank News
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Joachim Nagel said Thursday that he respected ECB President Christine Lagarde’s decision to step down early but deeply regretted it, praising her leadership of the institution through tough periods.
29 October 2026 | Central Bank News
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde gave a more hawkish account of Thursday’s policy debate than the balanced decision statement alone suggested, revealing that the Governing Council considered raising rates immediately and saying the direction of policy would be clear if the current assessment were broadly confirmed by December.
29 October 2026 | Central Bank News
By Marta Vilar – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said Thursday that the direction of interest rates was clear barring major developments before December, after the Governing Council debated a possible rate hike but unanimously agreed to leave rates unchanged.
29 October 2026 | Central Bank News
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – The European Central Bank’s decision to leave interest rates unchanged Thursday, as expected, gives official expression to the increasingly two-sided policy debate that has emerged since September, balancing the inflationary effects of the energy shock against tighter financial conditions that could reduce the amount of additional tightening required from the ECB itself.
29 October 2026 | Central Bank News
By Marta Vilar – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – The European Central Bank’s Governing Council on Thursday left its key interest rates unchanged, noting that underlying inflation and wage growth have remained broadly stable despite rising energy prices, while financial conditions have tightened.
29 October 2026 | Central Bank News
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde will step down on 7 February 2027, the ECB announced Thursday, confirming that she will leave before her eight-year term expires at the end of October next year.
29 October 2026 | Central Bank News
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Peter Kažimír faces a fresh obstacle to securing a second term at the head of Slovakia’s national bank (NBS) after Slovak President Peter Pellegrini said he would not reappoint him without a final court ruling clearing him of wrongdoing, adding another condition to a nomination already blocked by disagreements within the governing coalition.
29 October 2026 | Central Bank News
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – The European Central Bank is headed for a hold on Thursday, probably by unanimous decision, with President Christine Lagarde likely to preserve a tightening bias while remaining deliberately noncommittal about the path of rates from here.
27 October 2026 | Central Bank News
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – Eurozone banks reported tighter lending standards for firms and consumer credit in the third quarter of 2026, alongside weakening loan demand across all categories, according to the European Central Bank's October Bank Lending Survey (BLS).
27 October 2026 | Central Bank News
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – Following is the full transcript of the interview conducted by Econostream on 21 October 2026 with Markus Stix, Managing Director in charge of markets at the Austrian Treasury:
27 October 2026 | Debt Issuance News
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – European sovereign bond markets could face further turmoil if governments fail to restore fiscal sustainability, according to Markus Stix, Managing Director in charge of markets at the Austrian Treasury, who warned that the absence of a dominant bond buyer, following years of large-scale European Central Bank purchases, has left governments increasingly exposed to market discipline.
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Published: 26th October 2026
27 October 2026 | Central Bank News
- 23 of 24 analysts expect October hold, with December hike widely anticipated
27 October 2026 | Central Bank News
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Nature-related risks are increasingly relevant to central banks because of their potential effects on inflation, financial stability and banks, European Central Bank Executive Board member Frank Elderson said Monday.
26 October 2026 | Central Bank News
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Euro area firms reported a further tightening in bank lending conditions in the third quarter, with higher borrowing costs accompanied by a decline in loan availability and expectations that access to external financing will deteriorate further, the European Central Bank said Monday.
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By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – The European Central Bank's Governing Council became slightly less hawkish over the past week as its October monetary policy meeting approaches, according to Econostream's ECB Tone Meter, with policymakers increasingly acknowledging that higher borrowing costs could reduce the need for further interest rate hikes.
26 October 2026 | Central Bank News
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Former German finance minister Jörg Kukies has turned down a move to the European Central Bank despite persistent efforts by Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil to recruit him, Platow Brief reported Friday.
23 October 2026 | Central Bank News
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.
23 October 2026 | Central Bank News
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Euro area consumers raised their near-term inflation expectations slightly in September while leaving longer-term expectations unchanged, the European Central Bank said Friday.
23 October 2026 | Central Bank News