ECB’s Scicluna: Monetary Policy Can’t Step on the Brakes Yet

15 March 2021

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Edward Scicluna said Sunday that it was too soon to ease up on monetary and fiscal policy support to mitigate the fallout from the pandemic.

In an op-ed piece in the Times of Malta, Scicluna, who heads the Central Bank of Malta, wrote that ‘[t]he future remains uncertain, with the ECB talking of cautious optimism.’

‘In the meantime, the policy advice for both monetary and fiscal policy is not to step on the brakes as yet’, he continued. ‘For sure it looks like it will continue to remain a rough ride towards the light in sight at the end of the tunnel.’

Scicluna said that a year of dealing with the pandemic ‘has taught us how to be more selective in the timing periods, locations and types of lockdowns and closures to minimise the economic impact of the needed containment measures.’

However, he added, ‘On the downside, an increasing level of fatigue is leading to a deterioration to the quality of these containment measures.’