They Said It - Recent Comments of ECB Governing Council Members
2 October 2023
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – The following is an overview of recent comments made by European Central Bank Governing Council members. We include only comments made since the Governing Council meeting of 14 September, but earlier comments can still be seen in versions up to that of 11 September.
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Christine Lagarde (ECB)
29 September 2023
‘For the ECB, the most important contribution we can make is to maintain price stability. For any type of fixed investment, price stability is crucial as it gives firms visibility on how their costs will evolve over time. But for green investments, which often do not provide returns until many years down the line, it is even more important that prices are expected to remain stable. This is especially true because, as our survey shows, a significant share of green investments are financed through retained earnings. Without price stability, these funds will lose their value or be redirected towards inflation-protected investments, both of which would hinder investment in riskier green technologies. But insofar as price stability is assured, we can also act to protect our balance sheet from climate risk and thereby support the green transition – which we are already doing. The measures we have taken include sharpening incentives by tilting our corporate bond purchases towards companies with a better climate performance, limiting the share of assets issued by entities with a high carbon footprint that can be pledged as collateral in our operations, and having stricter disclosure requirements. For 2024 and beyond, we will consider ways to continue addressing climate considerations in our monetary policy.’
‘We remain determined to ensure that inflation returns to our 2% medium-term target in a timely manner. Inflation continues to decline but is still expected to remain too high for too long. To reinforce progress towards our target, we decided to raise our key interest rates by 25bp earlier this month. Based on our latest assessment, we consider that our policy rates have reached levels that, maintained for a sufficiently long duration, will make a substantial contribution to the timely return of inflation to our target. In any case, our future decisions will ensure that the key ECB interest rates will be set at sufficiently restrictive levels for as long as necessary. We will continue to follow a data-dependent approach, basing our decisions on our assessment of the inflation outlook in the light of the incoming economic and financial data, the dynamics of underlying inflation, and the strength of monetary policy transmission.’
‘I repeat, we have not decided, discussed or even pronounced cuts.’
‘What we have decided is actually reflected in that key paragraph, which I have read twice because it is in the body of the text which was released to you earlier and also in the conclusion of the text. And it has caveats: “based on our current assessment”. So, it is based on all the data, the numbers, the analysis, the assessment, the projections and any other information that we have available. We considered that “the key ECB interest rates have reached levels” – note, levels – “that, maintained for a sufficiently long duration” – so there is the time element that comes up – “will make a substantial contribution” – substantial contribution, those are heavy words – “to the timely return of inflation to the target”. And we don't stop here. The whole paragraph is important and needs to be read in symbiosis. So the next sentence says that “our future decisions will ensure that the key ECB interest rates will be set at – one – “sufficiently restrictive levels” – two – “as long as necessary”. Those are really two parameters that are going to guide us very much. Not that we are forgetting about the three components that have guided our reasoning so far. We will continue to follow a data-dependent approach to determining the appropriate level and duration of restrictions. In particular, our interest rate decisions will be based on our assessment – and I repeat there, it's in the in the text – of number 1, inflation outlook in the light of the incoming economic and financial data, number 2, the dynamics of underlying inflation, number 3, the strength of monetary policy transmission. So, that addresses your question and I think that the exercises that no doubt some of you will conduct in relation to “substantial contribution” and how that substantial contribution contributes from “significant level maintained for as long as necessary, based on current assessment”, gives you the answer to your question.’
‘…GDP has been revised significantly. We moved from 0.9% to 0.7% in 2023 and more importantly we moved from 1.5% to 1.0% in 2024. But let me just take a moment to explain to you what seems like the biggest revision, which is 2024. Most of it, actually three quarters of that revision of 0.5, is attributable to carry over from 2023. So we are going through a period of about five quarters of very, very sluggish growth and, based on our projection, we are coming to the end of it. The pickup according to the same calendar, the same quarter calendar that we have had in the June projections, picks up again in 2024. The downgrade from 1.5% to 1%, as I said, is a carry-over from 2023. In 2025, we have a small revision and we move from 1.6% to 1.5%, which is really a minimal revision. In essence, the recovery we had projected for the second half of 2023 is actually pushed out into time for various reasons that I'm happy to expand upon. That is what we are seeing.’
‘We are not saying either that we are now at peak. I think the sentence that I read is really the critical one. With today's decision, we have made sufficient contributions, under current assessment, to returning inflation to target in a timely manner. And as I said, both elements matter, the level sufficiently restrictive and the duration. But it's obvious that the focus is probably going to move a bit more to the duration. But we can't say that now we are at that peak. I know it is complicated, because the “as long as necessary” cannot be actually pinned down and the “substantial contribution” cannot be pinned down either, because we have to conduct an assessment every time against the data, against the analysis, against the various information that we derive from experts, and against the projections and what our staff offers.’
Isabel Schnabel (ECB)
25 September 2023
‘Since July last year, we have raised our key policy rate, the deposit facility rate, by 4.50%age points – the steepest tightening cycle in the history of the euro area. We are also reducing our balance sheet, as banks are paying back the TLTROs and as we no longer reinvest the proceeds from maturing government bonds under the APP. All these measures are having a material effect on money dynamics, supporting disinflation. Since we started raising interest rates, broad money growth M3 has slowed down sharply and has turned negative on an annual basis in July. Lending to firms and households has essentially stalled. Developments in narrower monetary aggregates are even more striking. The stock of M1 is contracting at a fast pace. In July, it was more than 9% below its level a year ago. This is unprecedented: on an annual basis, M1 had not once declined since records began in the 1970s. These developments have sparked concerns that monetary policy may now be at risk of overtightening. In the past, real CPI-deflated M1 growth has been a reliable leading indicator for all recessions in the euro area. While activity in the euro area economy is clearly moderating, there are two reasons why monetary developments may currently not be a reliable measure of economic activity. The first is that developments in real M1 growth have typically been more informative about future turning points in real GDP growth than about the depth of the downturn. Sharp declines in real M1 growth were often accompanied by relatively moderate declines in the annual growth rate of real GDP. The second reason is that the volume of M1 critically depends on the opportunity cost of holding highly liquid, mostly overnight, deposits. Before the pandemic, these opportunity costs were historically low, as asset purchases and other unconventional monetary policy measures compressed the spread between long-term and short-term interest rates. As a result, the remuneration received by households and firms for holding overnight and time deposits was essentially identical, boosting M1. Historically, M1 accounted for around 40% of M3. By the end of 2021, that share rose to 73%. The sharp rise in interest rates has fundamentally changed this dynamic. Households and firms are actively and rapidly rebalancing their portfolios towards time deposits and other instruments with higher rates of remuneration, contributing to the sharp fall in M1. Portfolio rebalancing has also resulted in “money destruction”, in the sense that depositors are using bank deposits to purchase instruments outside the scope of M3 from non-money-holding institutions. For example, over the past year households have almost doubled their holdings of government bonds, and they have built significant additional exposures to government debt through investment funds. Given the still elevated share of M1 in M3, considerable further declines in M1 can be expected. For example, if the share were to fall back to its pre-global financial crisis level, M1 outflows could amount to around €2 trillion. Similarly, current negative M3 growth is consistent with households and firms bringing their portfolios closer into line with historical regularities. Such rebalancing of portfolios will not in itself affect consumption and savings decisions. Higher interest rates may induce households to save more. But these effects would come on top of the reallocation of the existing stock of savings. Therefore, in the absence of other mechanisms at work, the current magnitude of the decline in real M1 growth says relatively little about the extent of the slowdown in economic activity in the euro area and the future evolution of inflation.’
‘Decline in headline inflation, while underlying inflation proves more stubborn’
‘Inflation expectations in surveys and markets remain elevated or have risen further’
‘New supply-side shocks may pose upside risks to inflation’
‘Dynamics in wage growth remain strong, while labour shortages persist’
Philip Lane (ECB)
22 September 2023
‘Well, I think the way to think about it is we think inflation will come down from low fives in August to low threes by the end of this year. So, last autumn was really the peak of intense inflation pressure. We had very strong gas price increases last year which peaked in August ’22. And essentially, this autumn there will be base effects where that 5% inflation rate comes down into the threes. So, the 4% interest rate, if you like, is there to bring inflation from around 3% at the end of this year back to 2% in ’25. That’s the scale of the, if you like, of the underlying inflation challenge, and this is why this rate of 4% we think is going to do quite a bit in bringing inflation all the way back to our 2% target.’
‘So, I think we have a lot of evidence in the euro area that monetary policy is working. Credit is basically flat now, it’s come down from strong credit growth to where lending to firms and households is pretty muted. The economy is growing at a very low rate. So, all of these signals are there that monetary policy is working. There’s more slack being built up in the economy. And this, we think, will make sure that over the next year or two, price increases and the underlying cost increases such as wages will remain fairly contained. But … this is a point-in-time assessment from last week. I think the overriding message … is high uncertainty. So, we’re emphasising that we do think this 4% rate will do a lot, but also we’re loud and clear saying that number one, this rate has to be held for long enough to make sure inflation is firmly on its way back to 2%. So, there’s a lot of power in the messaging that this needs to be held for sufficiently long. And then second, we’re totally open in adjusting our policy over the next year or two as we see the incoming data. … There’s going to be a lot of data points really not just at the end of this year, but stretching well into next year that we need to see before we would have high confidence that indeed inflation is firmly on its way back to our target.’
‘It’s not a good idea, it’s not productive, it’s unhelpful to kind of commit to a forward guidance where we say these rates are going to be held no matter what. But equally, I mean, I think this message should not be overinterpreted. You would expect a central bank, if we saw the inflation assessment going off track, if we saw … the net signals from the incoming data saying that, that actually more is needed, of course we would do more. But that is purely a process issue. It’s saying in response to kind of sufficient deterioration in the inflation dynamic, we would do more. And that’s just reflective of the uncertainty we’re living in in these conditions.’
‘We do see this year as being fairly muted, you know, an economy that’s not growing very much. And then we do have a pick-up, really from the start of next year. … there’s a lot of reasons this year for the economy to stagnate. But as incomes go up – and remember, you know, basically from this point forward, we do think wages will grow more quickly than inflation - people’s incomes are going to pick up, and this will help consumption. On the investment side, there’s been a big adjustment for a year and a half now… This already started happening in early ’22. And as that adjustment, you know, concludes, we will start to see, I think, investment returning. Let me emphasise is the overall environment remains, if you like, not fragile. The banking system is in good shape. Because of the pandemic, household balance sheets … look in better shape than normal. Same for corporates. So, the kind of toxic mix, if you like, you need in order to kind of trigger a deep recession is not present. So, this monetary tightening, which we need to do to kill inflation, is in a context where we don’t see the fragilities that … happened 15 years ago.’
‘So, this [higher oil prices] is why we did raise the inflation forecast for this year and next. ...will it broaden out, will higher energy costs trigger a new round of price increases across the services sector, across manufacturing? … So, with these restrictive interest rates, with relatively contained demand conditions, you know, a firm might wish to pass on high energy costs to their customers, but they’re much more at risk this year of losing market share if they try to do so.’
‘The inflation outlook remains subject to considerable uncertainty. On one side, upside risks to inflation include potential renewed upward pressures on the costs of energy and food. Adverse weather conditions, and the unfolding climate crisis more broadly, could push food prices up by more than expected. A lasting rise in inflation expectations above our target, or higher than anticipated increases in wages or profit margins, could also drive inflation higher, including over the medium term. On the other side, weaker demand – for example owing to a stronger transmission of monetary policy or a worsening of the external environment – would lead to lower price pressures, especially over the medium term.’
‘Manufacturing output is set to remain weak in view of further moderation in export demand and tight financing conditions, while past support from order backlogs is declining. Services have so far contributed positively to growth, due to the higher demand in contact-intensive sectors, but there have been clear signs of a slowdown since June. In the near term, private consumption is expected to remain weak, while housing and business investment are seen as declining further, also driven by the monetary policy tightening. Over time, the economic momentum should pick up as real incomes are expected to rise, supported by falling inflation, rising wages and a strong labour market, which will underpin consumer spending. However, activity levels will be dampened as the policy tightening and adverse credit supply conditions increasingly feed through to the real economy. The expected gradual withdrawal of fiscal support is also likely to weigh on economic growth in the coming quarters. The labour market has so far remained resilient despite the slowing economy but shows signs of losing momentum. … employers have become more reluctant to hire in the face of deteriorating demand and gloomier prospects for the year ahead. In addition, strong labour demand has begun to moderate, with indicators of job vacancy rates edging down in recent months.’
‘The risks to economic growth are tilted to the downside. Economic growth could be slower if the effects of monetary policy are more forceful than expected or if the world economy weakens owing, for instance, to a further slowdown in China. That said, growth could be higher than projected if the strong labour market, rising real incomes and receding uncertainty mean that people and businesses become more confident and spend more.’
‘In explaining this decision, the incoming data have largely validated our previous assessment of the inflation outlook, while most measures of underlying inflation have started to ease. Furthermore, the evidence indicates that the transmission of our monetary policy to broader financing conditions and the real economy is firmly taking hold. The economic slowdown since the middle of 2022 is set to continue in the near term and the level of GDP will be considerably lower than we had previously expected. The resulting additional slack will further contribute to the disinflation process, while a significant portion of the tightening from our past rate hikes is still in the pipeline.’
‘Based on our current assessment (and cross-checked with external perspectives), our key policy rates have reached levels that, maintained for a sufficiently long duration, will make a substantial contribution to the timely return of inflation to our target. Our future decisions will ensure that the key ECB interest rates will be set at sufficiently restrictive levels for as long as necessary. At the same time, the high level of two-sided uncertainty around the baseline means that we will remain data dependent in determining the appropriate level and duration of restrictiveness in our monetary stance. In assessing the inflation data over the coming months, base effects will play a significant role, making it unusually challenging to extract the underlying component from the reported data.’
‘Among the main open questions that the incoming data will need to answer will be the dynamics of wages and profits in the coming quarters. In particular, the disinflation embedded in the staff projections is built on a deceleration in wage growth, with the rate of increase in compensation per employee dropping from 5.3 per cent in 2023 to 4.3 per cent in 2024 and 3.8 per cent in 2025. These projected rates of wage increases are sufficient to restore the pre-pandemic level of real wages within the projection horizon, with the rates of wage inflation in 2024 and 2025 well ahead of the rates of price inflation. It will be well into the new year before the area-wide 2024 wage trends become fully visible: this fundamental source of uncertainty will not be resolved any time soon. In turn, the next phase in wage adjustment will also depend on the extent to which labour demand is affected by the slowdown in economic activity. In particular, the dampening of activity levels and the increase in financing costs might lower the propensity to hoard labour.’
Luis de Guindos (ECB)
02 October 2023
‘We reckon this level of rates, if maintained over time, will make a substantial contribution to our goal, which is the convergence of inflation toward the 2% target.’
‘In transmission you have two different legs. The first one is from our monetary policy decisions to financial markets and banks. In that first stage, the transmission is almost complete. You can see it. … The second phase is how the impact of the tightening of financing conditions feeds through to the real economy. And here there is much more uncertainty. We have seen a slowdown in economic activity. But there are other factors behind that, for instance the impact of inflation on households’ disposable income and the evolution of exports, which is related to the slowdown in the global economy. The key point that will determine our future decisions is how intense the transmission of our monetary policy will be to the real economy, and indirectly to inflation. That is why we believe that the present level of interest rates, if maintained over time, will give rise to a reduction in inflation towards our definition of price stability.’
‘We do not at all want to create an unnecessarily painful recession. We must bring inflation to our definition of price stability while simultaneously trying to minimise the pain that could create in terms of a slowdown in the economy. This is, at the end of the day, a very delicate balance. If the transmission is incomplete, then we should be a little more patient. If the transmission is much closer to completion, then we should consider the next steps to guarantee that inflation converges to our target.’
‘Yes, it [the recent rise in oil and gas prices, coupled with a weaker euro] makes our task more difficult. I would not say that it is a game changer. But my concern is that the rise in the oil price could have a detrimental impact on inflation expectations for households and corporates.’
‘First of all, progress in a very steady way towards our definition of price stability, i.e. to inflation of 2% along with projections indicating it will remain at that level in a sustainable way. Starting to talk about rate cuts now is premature. We have reduced inflation from more than 10% to 4.3%. Still, I think the last stretch is going to be more difficult. We are on our way towards 2%. That’s clear. But we must monitor that very closely, as the last mile will not be easy. … our predictions indicate that inflation will continue slowing down over the next months. But we need to monitor it very closely because the elements that might torpedo the disinflation process are powerful.’
‘My impression is that after four years without EU fiscal rules, governments may have got used to a little bit of a “whatever it takes” approach with respect to fiscal policy. But that has to change. Having a tightening of monetary policy and, simultaneously, an expansionary fiscal policy would be a very bad policy mix. And being more concrete, what would be detrimental is a fiscal deficit that goes above the level of 2022.’
‘Some of my colleagues in the Governing Council have been quite outspoken with respect to the need for starting the process of quantitative tightening on the PEPP. But in the formal structure of the Council, we have not even started the discussion. It will arrive sooner or later.’
‘Risks to inflation are now balanced.’
‘Underlying inflation’s worst moment has passed and it should moderate.’
‘With this hike, and with the hikes that we have carried out in recent months, we are ultimately reaching a level that over time, we believe will be a very important contribution for inflation to return in the coming quarters to a level consistent with price stability, which is 2%. … But we believe that with the current level, if it is maintained for a while, there is a high possibility that in before too long, inflation will converge to 2%.’
‘It is very soon [to expect rate cuts this year]. I think inflation is going to continue to decline, both headline and core inflation. The markets are betting; the markets can be wrong. They are based on a series of hypotheses that sometimes do not come true, that we will start to lower rates in June '24. Well, it is a bet; it may be right, it may not be right.’
Fabio Panetta (ECB)
20 September 2023
‘As we navigate our way through 2023, the fall in energy prices has created new policy challenges, representing the fourth phase [of interaction between fiscal policy and monetary policy]. During this phase it has become necessary to withdraw fiscal energy support measures in a timely manner. Failure to do so could create a demand impulse that would exacerbate inflationary pressures, which would in turn trigger a monetary policy response. This would be highly inefficient, akin to giving with one hand and taking away with the other.’
‘Fiscal policy should be countercyclical in order to smooth economic fluctuations, while fostering public investment to support potential growth. And for fiscal policies to contribute to both price and macro-financial stability, they need to complement monetary policy when needed. Price stability, in turn, supports fiscal sustainability by keeping government financing costs low over time.’
Frank Elderson (ECB)
27 September 2023
‘We have said it very clearly: we consider that, with the decisions we’ve made and on the basis of our current assessment, the current interest rate levels will make a substantial contribution to us reaching our inflation target in the medium term. Does that mean policy rates have peaked? Not necessarily. There is still a lot of uncertainty. That’s why we take these decisions meeting by meeting, on a data-dependent basis. Making any predictions about what we will do next would not be consistent with that approach.’
‘Of course, there are upward risks to inflation. There could, for example, be upward pressures on food and energy prices – since July we have been alluding in our monetary policy statement to the importance of weather and climate conditions in this respect. Climate change could also lead to a shift in longer-term inflation dynamics, but we need much more granular analysis into how exactly physical and transition risks will ultimately affect inflation.’
‘What we’re seeing is a more protracted period of sluggish growth than we were expecting. Of course, we need to look at the various explanatory factors, such as lower demand for euro area exports, the impact of tighter financing conditions, lower residential and business investment, and the weakening services sector. On the other hand, labour markets are still strong and disposable income is expected to rise, which would have a stabilising effect on overall GDP growth.’
Joachim Nagel (Bundesbank)
28 September 2023
‘In my opinion, there are still many good reasons for not ending the rate hikes at this stage, because inflation is still expected to be too high for too long. While headline inflation has fallen slightly, core inflation has been and remains stubbornly high. However, there are signs of a slowdown in the real economy. This development is also due to the restrictive monetary policy, which is designed to do just that. In order to lower inflation, economic momentum must be slowed down to a certain extent. Exactly how much is something we are currently discussing.’
‘I fundamentally believe that we can end this rate hike cycle with a "soft landing" of the economy, and several factors support this thesis. For example, unemployment is at an all-time low, and this is despite the fact that we have raised key interest rates by 450bp. This is a completely new phenomenon. We should be satisfied with this result, because it says that labour markets are resilient, while inflation can be brought back to 2% through a restrictive monetary policy.’
‘I would rather return to a leaner central bank balance sheet even more quickly. We definitely need to keep an eye on the PEPP.’
‘Inflation remains high despite the weak economic development in Germany. In August the European harmonized inflation rate was 6.4%. Although this is significantly less than the 11.6% at the peak in October 2022, it is still far too high and well above the Eurosystem's 2% target. And for the next two years, we at the Bundesbank are also assuming values well above 2% for Germany, namely 3.1% in the coming year and still 2.7% in 2025 according to our forecast from June. A look at core inflation, which does not take energy and food into account, shows how persistent inflation is in this country. In June we forecast a level of 5.2% for 2023; this would mean that core inflation would be even higher than in the previous year, when it was 3.9%. We only expect core inflation to be noticeably weaker in 2024 and 2025.’
‘The inflation rate in the euro area is also not moving towards 2% at the desired pace. In August it was 5.2%, only slightly below the July figure of 5.3%. We saw a decline in the core rate from 5.5% in July to 5.3% in August. Nevertheless, core inflation remains stubbornly high and is only expected to fall gradually. Because it is increasingly being driven by domestic economic factors.’
‘The ECB Governing Council is therefore facing a stubborn inflationary environment. It therefore stuck to its consistent monetary policy course at its most recent meeting and increased the key interest rates again. This is the tenth interest rate hike in a row since July 2022. The interest rate for the deposit facility, which is crucial for the monetary policy orientation, has now risen to 4%. Was that it with the rise in key interest rates? Have we reached the plateau? This cannot yet be clearly predicted. The inflation rate is still too high. And the forecasts still show only a slow decline towards the target value of 2%. The key interest rates will have to remain at a sufficiently high level for a sufficiently long time. What this means exactly cannot be said yet: it depends on the data. But the goal is clear: That the inflation rate falls to 2% as soon as possible.’
François Villeroy de Galhau (Banque de France)
29 September 2023
‘This morning's INSEE figures show that headline and core inflation are gradually falling across Europe, underlining the effectiveness of the European Central Bank's monetary policy. In France too, we are seeing a marked fall in core inflation, to 3.6%, and particularly in services inflation. This data reinforces our confidence that inflation in the Eurozone and France will return to its 2% target by 2025, confirming that our current key interest rates are appropriate. Recent volatility in the long-term bond market has been somewhat excessive.’
‘Headline inflation has already fallen back from its peak of 10.6% in October last year to 5.2% in August, and strangely enough this criticism contains elements of good news. Firstly, it implies that monetary policy has indeed had a powerful effect on the economy. Not so long ago, there was a debate about whether the IS curve had become fairly flat and our instruments were weak in combatting inflation. Second, it shows, at least in several countries including France, that the inflation psychology has switched, with receding concern over upside inflation risks. Our resolute monetary policy over the past year was indeed intended to break a self-sustaining inflationary psychology. Households’ and firms’ inflation expectations have peaked, supporting this assessment.’
‘However, the criticism that we have done too much misses two points in my opinion. It somewhat overestimates the risks to growth: what we presently see – and forecast – is a slowdown, not a recession; and employment remains at record highs, which is a positive surprise. And it underestimates the persistence of inflation. Headline inflation has indeed come down rapidly. But regarding underlying inflation, the news is less clear-cut. The HICPX rose to 5.7% in March this year but fell back to 5.3% in August. In the Eurosystem, we look at a battery of indicators and those that try to identify instant inflation are lower than this, below 3%; they all point in the right direction. Nevertheless, annual nominal wage growth remains sustained, although showing early signs of peaking: it is forecasted to reach in average 5.3% in the euro area in 2023, and 4.3% and 3.8% respectively in 2024 and 2025. Furthermore, some commentators talk about “the difficulty of the last mile” in the return of inflation back to the 2% target. However, this phrase supposes non-linearities in the Phillips curve, which have not been really identified in the European case. And some suggest that as a result we should accept that “near-enough”, say 3%, is close enough to target rather than set a much tighter policy in the pursuit of 2%. I am not fixated on 2.0% to the nearest decimal place, but I do believe that it would be very counterproductive to change or relax our inflation target, either explicitly or implicitly.’
‘First, we should take into account the very strong and fast transmission of our monetary policy tightening to financing conditions. ... If anything, this transmission has been even faster than we expected. ... However, there is still more transition to come as fixed-rate loans roll off and are renewed at higher rates. This process takes time and we at the Banque de France estimate that there could be still between 40 and 50bp of increase in lending rates to non-financial companies yet to come. A last word on monetary transmission: while its ‘first leg’ (to financial conditions) is obviously quick, we are less clear at this stage about its second leg (from financial conditions to the economy). Second reflection: we clearly have a primary objective, which is our destination, bringing inflation back towards 2% by 2025. There can be no doubt about our determination and commitment. We have growing confidence in achieving this – see our latest forecast about 2025 inflation. And hence, subject to this primary objective, we can now incorporate a secondary one concerning the path: if we can reach the destination with a soft landing rather than a hard one, it’s a much better route, for the economy, for our fellow European citizens, and for the sound conduct of fiscal policies. The risk of doing too much needs to be balanced against the risk of not doing enough. In my judgement, these risks are now at least symmetric. In the latter case, inflation would remain persistently above target and inflation expectations might become de-anchored. This is a manageable risk because we always can do more if the risk materialises. But in the risk of doing too much, with the economy falling into recession and causing a sharp deceleration of inflation, we would then have to rapidly reverse course. Hence, “testing until it breaks” is not a sensible way to calibrate monetary policy. This suggests that we should now focus on the persistence of policy rather than the constant pushing of rates higher – duration rather than level. Patience and persistence in monetary policy does not mean inaction. Our current stance is restrictive – market implied real rates are above our estimates of the neutral rate – so maintaining the current level will bring down inflation. In the same way that there is a risk of doing too much in the future, there is the opposite risk of easing too early. If markets fully incorporate our persistent strategy, they shouldn’t expect rate cuts before a sufficiently long period of time; then markets will endogenously extend the duration of elevated rates, contributing to the appropriate calibration of the stance. In any case, our policy should remain data dependent. In particular, we have to monitor closely the recent rebound in oil prices. At present, it’s far from a general commodity shock like in 2021-22; but we have to monitor its possible effects on inflation expectations and wages: underlying inflation remains our key indicator. A persistent strategy is not a forward guidance that rates will never increase again. It remains a pragmatic strategy: and as a pragmatist, I clearly stress today that “based on our current assessment, we consider that our key ECB interest rates have reached levels that, maintained for a sufficiently long duration”, are broadly consistent with the timely return inflation to our target, that is 2025.’
‘Rates are the remedy, and this remedy is proving highly effective. ... It's like a medicine. You have to be patient and persistent enough to take the medicine. So, we've raised the European Central Bank rates ... to 4%. From today's perspective - there may be shocks, etc. ... but from today's point of view, we're going to keep these rates at 4% for a long enough time. It's an effective remedy.’
‘From today's perspective, we think it's a good level ... barring any new developments, the most important thing now is to be patient, to be tenacious. ... We're at the right dosage... but you have to take the medicine long enough, and we're going to see this deceleration in inflation... We're looking at the evolution of the disease, which is inflation. There are encouraging initial signs, but as the disease diminishes and one day disappears, that is returns to around 2%, then we'll be done with the remedy.... At that point, interest rates may fall again, but we're not there yet.’
‘…today, there are the first successes: we have passed the high point of total inflation, and that on food - which is the most significant for the French. But this is not enough, of course. We are committed to bringing inflation back towards the 2% objective by 2025, in France and in Europe. To cure this disease, we must know how to be tenacious about the remedy that is interest rates: we will therefore maintain those of the ECB at their current level of 4% for as long as it takes.’
‘…there is indeed some encouraging news: headline inflation has passed its peak since the beginning of 2023, and it seems that core inflation is following suit. Indeed, the latter started to recede, to stand at 5.3% in August (down from 5.5% in July and 5.7% in March) in the euro area. Obviously, these inflation rates remain too high: we must and we will bring inflation back towards our 2% target by 2025. I reiterate this morning this clear commitment which is fully consistent with our latest ECB forecasts. Monetary policy is the first line of defence, and the main remedy for this disease. I won’t make comments about yesterday’s Governing Council and monetary decision. But our collective fight against inflation calls for a more appropriate policy mix: the revision of the European economic governance framework provides a major window of opportunity to realign fiscal and monetary policy. Alongside high inflation, public debts have reached historical levels mainly due to unprecedented waves of shocks, but also, for several countries, to legacy debts. Now that these shocks are fading, governments must avoid an overly expansionary stance that would further fuel inflationary pressures. We therefore need a more coordinated and realigned fiscal and monetary stance.’
Ignazio Visco (Banca d’Italia)
NO UPDATE
Pablo Hernández de Cos (Banco de España)
25 September 2023
‘In any case, uncertainty remains very high and the risks to economic growth projections are tilted to the downside. In particular, growth could be slower if the effects of monetary policy are more forceful than expected, or if the world economy weakens, for instance owing to a further slowdown in China.’
‘Importantly, after two years of very high inflation, the medium-term inflation expectations of consumers, professional forecasters and market participants alike are still well anchored around our 2% target. On longer-term inflation expectations, there is an apparent disconnect between survey-based and market-based metrics, with the former converging to target and the latter remaining somewhat higher. The disconnect, however, essentially disappears if one removes the inflation risk premium embedded in market-based measures. The genuine inflation expectation component incorporated in the observed 5-year 5-year forward inflation compensation derived from inflation swaps is essentially 2%. One would expect the inflation risk premium to increase in times like this, when inflation is still high and growth is subdued and therefore there is still much uncertainty about inflation dynamics.’
‘As in the case of growth, uncertainty surrounding the inflation outlook is high and we will have to continue monitoring the different sources of risk which are, in my view, now broadly balanced.’
‘The above assessment suggests that the current level of the key ECB interest rates, maintained over a sufficiently long duration, would be broadly consistent with achieving our 2% inflation target in the medium term. In other words, this means that, if we keep rates at these levels long enough, there are very good chances that we will be able to reach our 2% target in a timely manner. This is also in line with the view of most analysts and financial markets, which expect a rapid decline in inflation over the course of this year and the next. But let me emphasise that this is a conditional statement. We have come to this conclusion on the basis of today’s information and the level of uncertainty about the future evolution of the economy remains high and subject to geopolitical risks, the course of which is difficult to anticipate. There could be further shocks, and our response to them will depend on their origin and scale and on their impact on the inflation outlook. In this context, our future decisions will ensure that the key ECB interest rates will be set at sufficiently restrictive levels for as long as necessary and we will continue to follow a data-dependent approach to determining the appropriate level and duration of monetary restriction. This approach is particularly important to avoid both insufficient tightening, which would impede the achievement of our inflation target, and excessive tightening, which would unnecessarily damage economic activity and employment.’
‘In the coming quarters, we are likely to see low growth. This more negative short-term outlook is the main reason behind the ECB experts lowering their projections, and they now expect cumulative growth for the period 2023-2025 to be 1% lower. This is a significant downward revision. And the risks to this projection are tilted to the downside. But the baseline scenario is not a dramatic one, and they do not foresee a recession. As regards inflation, the staff projections for 2023 and 2024 have been revised slightly upwards, but that is mainly because of higher energy prices. For 2025, the projection is now slightly lower, at 2.1%, close to our target. And the risks to inflation are now balanced. In my view, developments since June have strengthened our confidence that the inflation path will move towards 2.0% by 2025. … There are several factors: our monetary policy is being transmitted forcefully and increasingly dampening demand, which is an important factor in bringing inflation back to target. And, indeed, as I mentioned, the growth outlook has been revised downwards and the risks are on the downside. In addition, underlying inflation is now easing, so we seem to have finally turned the corner. Moreover, underlying inflation and wages are performing as expected. There are indeed some catch-up effects in wages, after the strong real wage losses in 2022, and we expect this catch-up to continue in 2024 and 2025 but, if wages behave as expected in the projections, and labour productivity recovers in line with its past procyclical pattern, this should lead to moderate growth in unit labour costs and, therefore, be compatible with inflation gradually falling towards our target. At the same time, having increased significantly in 2022, corporate profit margins are receding. This is compatible with the assumption in the projections that margins will act as a buffer, in a context of higher wages and lower demand. Of course, there are upside risks to inflation, related in particular to potential higher energy prices. But, in the opposite direction, weaker demand is expected to ease price pressures.’
‘We always have to be very vigilant about inflation expectations. But for me a key point is that after two years of very high inflation, the medium-term inflation expectations of consumers, professional forecasters and market participants alike are still well anchored around our 2% target. On longer-term inflation expectations, there is an apparent disconnect between survey-based and market-based metrics, with the former converging to target and the latter remaining somewhat higher. The disconnect, however, essentially disappears if one removes the inflation risk premium embedded in market-based measures. The genuine inflation expectation component incorporated in the observed 5-year, 5-year forward inflation compensation derived from inflation swaps is essentially 2%. One should expect the inflation risk premium to increase in times like this: when inflation is still elevated and growth is subdued.’
‘Based on the information available today and using a range of analytical tools, we can say that the interest rate level we have now reached, if maintained for a sufficiently long time, is broadly consistent with achieving our inflation target in the medium term. But that is a conditional statement. We have come to this conclusion on the basis of today's information. Uncertainty remains high. There could be further shocks, and our response to them will depend on their origin and scale and on their impact on the inflation outlook. … We will remain vigilant and data dependent. Let me give two examples: if the risks to growth materialise and there is a sharper downturn than expected, we will of course respond to that. But equally, we will also respond if inflation turns out to be higher than expected, for example because of stronger profits or wage growth.’
‘That [how long is "long enough"] is a very difficult question and cannot be answered in advance. It depends on whether or not inflation and growth develop in line with their projected paths. But it is certainly too early to talk about interest rate cuts at the moment. … Looking at today's information, we certainly can't rule out cuts. But I do not want to and cannot confirm them [market expectations] either. As I said, uncertainty is still very high.’
‘First of all, the most important thing is that we have not discussed this issue [QT] so far. What is clear is that when we talk about tightening, we are talking about interest rates - the level and duration - and the balance sheet. There is a certain trade-off between these two instruments and both determine the degree of monetary tightening. In this trade-off we decided to use interest rates as the primary tool for our policy. That is important to keep in mind. And, as I said, we have now done a lot very quickly in terms of hiking rates and we are confident that with the steps we have taken so far we will achieve our goal in the medium term. I should also mention that the speed of reduction of the balance sheet so far has been extraordinary compared with other central banks. Since TLTRO borrowing peaked at the end of 2021, the outstanding volume of TLTROs has fallen by €1.65 trillion. This is in addition to the decline in the asset purchase programme portfolio of almost €110 billion since the end of reinvestments in June. When it comes to the PEPP, it is also important to emphasise that PEPP reinvestment is the first line of defence if there are problems in monetary policy transmission. … Indeed, I think we should be very cautious.’
‘That [the active sale of bonds] is not something we are currently considering or will consider in the future.’
‘Uncertainty about the economy and inflation remains high, heavily influenced by factors, such as the war in Ukraine, whose future course is difficult to predict. In any event, on the information currently available, maintaining the present level of interest rates for a sufficiently long time should be broadly consistent with achieving our inflation target of 2% over the medium term. This is also the majority view of financial markets and analysts. What is the basis for this conclusion? First, the strength of the transmission of tighter monetary policy to financial conditions and credit, which appears to be greater than in past episodes. And that transmission is by no means complete. Second, the sluggish economic growth in the euro area in the first part of the year, which has extended into the third quarter and across all economic sectors, even though employment has remained strong. Indeed, the ECB has revised down its economic growth forecasts significantly. GDP at end-2025 is now expected to be 1% lower than estimated just three months ago. And the risks are on the downside. Third, the decline in recent months, in line with our projections, in the indicators of underlying inflation, which is more stubborn than headline inflation. Wages are gradually regaining lost ground and margins, which have slowed after growing sharply in 2022, have also performed in line with forecasts. In addition, medium-term inflation expectations remain anchored around 2%. All of which leads us to believe that inflation may decline as envisaged in the ECB’s projections, reaching 2.1% in 2025, close to our target. Moreover, the risks to inflation are now balanced. A number of factors could drive up inflation more than expected, for instance, renewed inflationary pressures on energy and food prices, or higher than expected growth in wages or margins. But others, such as weaker demand or stronger monetary policy transmission, could accelerate its decline. In this setting, it is essential that future monetary policy decisions are based on a painstaking analysis of the incoming data. This will prevent insufficient tightening, which would stop us from reaching our inflation target, and also excessive tightening that could cause unnecessary damage to activity and employment.’
Klaas Knot (De Nederlandsche Bank)
21 September 2023
‘I think interest rates are currently at the right level for us and I don't think we need to change them in the very short term.’
Pierre Wunsch (Belgian National Bank)
21 September 2023
‘The risk that we would have to do more is significant. I'm not sure we should put a number on it, but it's certainly more than 10% and I think it's not that far from 50%.’
‘I don't see any strong argument for using movements in the reserve requirements when we still have this huge portfolio that we can reduce.’
‘We need to remain cautious, but honestly, to be clear, I don't think there are any arguments now for keeping [PEPP reinvestments] until 2024, except the fact that we have announced’ that we would.
‘I'm a bit concerned that in the future, if you would want to do some more QE, the markets would say okay, but if it turns sour and they make losses, they are going to want to recoup the losses.’
‘Uncertainty remains too high to be able to announce that this is the last rate increase.’
‘If we no longer have to increase rates, so much the better. We are at 4% and I do not exclude that it is sufficient, but we have seen in Canada, the United States and elsewhere, that pauses were sometimes followed by a new period of increases because the uncertainty is very large. So, we may have reached the peak, but I would say we are far from sure. But I don't expect rates to be raised in October. We are clearly in a phase where we can afford to wait a little to see what developments in inflation will be in the coming months. This will depend in particular on developments on the wage front. It will also be necessary to see whether the slowdown in growth in Europe will be relatively temporary and followed by a rebound in 2024 or whether it will be more profound; it will also be necessary to check whether the current increase in oil prices will be lasting or not.’
‘The uncertainty therefore remains high and prevents us from concluding, today, that we have reached the "terminal rate". On the other hand, I am personally entirely in favour of us now giving ourselves a little time and waiting until we have, perhaps, two or three inflation figures before possibly considering an additional increase.’
‘For the first time in a long time, we are not seeing a big gap in our underlying inflation forecasts, even though we have had, on several occasions, very unpleasant surprises in this area. So I believe that from now on we can use, more than in the past, the forecast of the trajectory of inflation by 2025 as a reference point.’
‘In our forecasts, inflation returns to around 2% in 2025: this would still make four years of inflation above our objective. If, in the coming months, inflation falls at the rate predicted in our projections, so much the better: it will mean that we will probably not have to do anything more. If inflation were to fall less quickly than expected, then I think we will have to have a new discussion to see if we should not do more, because that would then bring us to a return to 2% which would be very far in the future.’
‘We do not control the duration very well, unless we return to very specific forward guidance. If, at some point, we have to signal something, we will probably have to do it by increasing rates further. But obviously, if the markets themselves expect rates to remain high for longer, that contributes to the fact that we could possibly do less in terms of levels. But what we control best is the rate itself. Duration is largely a market equilibrium that we have less control over.’
‘We are no longer in a Covid crisis. I think that a fairly large number of my colleagues believe, like me, that at some point we should have this discussion again to see if we really want to reinvest until 2024. Is this very urgent? No. But I believe we will do it in due time.‘
Mārtiņš Kazāks (Latvijas Banka)
29 September 2023
‘Over the course of the year [2024], the European economy will also start growing faster, which will benefit our exporters.’
‘The recent oil price increase in my view is not a temporary or transitory, it's very much a structural issue. This does create upside risks in my view for inflation.’
‘quite satisfied where rates stand now’
‘Rates will need to remain restrictive for quite a while.’
‘Given the current outlook, mid-2024 rate cut expectations are too early.’
‘Need to start cutting rates when inflation forecast consistently undershooting target.’
APP sales, end of PEPP reinvestments should be discussed before rate cuts.
‘The market shouldn’t expect that we would jump too early to cut rates, We’ll start cutting rates when we see that we consistently and significantly start to undershoot our target, and what I can say clearly is that expectations of a rate cut in spring or early summer in my view are not really consistent with the macro scenario that we have.’
‘While I’m comfortable with where rates are at the moment, if necessary we will take the right decisions. To say we’re at the peak — I don’t think we can do that.’
‘I'm comfortable with the current level of rates and I think we're on track to reach 2% in the second half of 2025. But if the data tells us that we need another hike, we'll do it.’
‘Markets have to take a position but [an April rate cut] is inconsistent with our macro scenario. We've clearly said we'll stay in restrictive territory for as long as necessary to get inflation to 2%.’
‘There is excess liquidity that has to be removed and we'll have to discuss it. It has to happen before rates are cut.’
Tuomas Välimäki (Bank of Finland)
NO UPDATE
Madis Müller (Eesti Pank)
26 September 2023
Duration ‘will depend on how the euro-area economy develops over the year and how the slowing of inflation plays out. Right now, we see that the economic situation is relatively weak in the euro area as a whole. Looking forward, it could start improving slightly. If the recovery is slower, then that means smaller pressures in terms of inflation.’
‘We should have a discussion soon about how to proceed with PEPP reinvestments and for how long. There’s a strong argument in favor of stopping PEPP reinvestments sooner than the end of next year. That would be consistent with our interest-rate policy.’
‘There’s a good chance that we don’t have to lift rates any higher, but of course that can change if inflation doesn’t come down as quickly as expected.’
‘Of course we don’t want to cause a recession, but that’s not what we have in the cards now. It’s a difficult period for the euro area economy but we should still expect a gradual recovery toward the end of the year.’
‘At yesterday's European Central Bank Council meeting, we decided to raise interest rates by another 0.25%, but we also made it clear that, to the best of our knowledge, no further interest rate hikes are expected in the coming months. Interest rates have already reached high enough to be expected to bring inflation back to close to 2% in the euro area over the next two years, slowing credit growth and cooling the momentum of the eurozone economy. This, of course, does not rule out the possibility that if the rapid price increase recedes more persistently than expected, interest rates will still have to be increased in the future.’
Boštjan Vasle (Banka Slovenije)
29 September 2023
‘There are encouraging signs regarding the future trend of inflation but there are also warning signs in terms of what might go wrong. … The fact is that headline inflation is on the right track… It’s also true that core inflation declined a bit…’
Previous rate hikes are ‘providing a significant amount of restrictiveness … The question is how these … are transmitted to the real economy. We are seeing transmission in the banking sector, which is getting very strong, stronger than in previous inflation episodes, but what is not known at the moment is how the second part of transmission… These are important questions which will determine … the duration of restrictiveness we are providing at the moment.’
‘Now what we are seeing … is moderation of growth…but we are still expecting positive growth in the euro area … so we are not talking about recession, we are talking about lower growth but still positive growth.’
‘At the moment, it seems that we are doing quite well, we are seeing some signs of inflation going down, also some first signs of sustainability of this trend, but on the other hand, there are still many uncertainties.
‘So, it’s probably the case that we are done with interest rate increases, but we are now in the second phase, the duration phase...’
‘I wouldn’t exclude that further hikes might be necessary. What we’ll be doing in the future depends crucially on new information we’ll receive.’
‘At the December meeting, we’ll have an additional set of new information and also new forecasts. We’ll have three more readings of inflation, we’ll have more information on what’s going on with growth dynamics. I believe this will add to the significance of this meeting.’
‘Core inflation is still relatively high. Yesterday’s rate increase will importantly contribute to bringing inflation down.’
‘The recent increases and especially the current level of interest rates will open more space for deliberations on other segments of monetary policy, especially QT.’
‘In the light of the latest forecasts and the fact that inflation remains high despite the slowdown, the members of the Governing Council have decided to raise key interest rates again by 25bp. Based on our current assessment, we believe that with this hike, the ECB's key interest rates have reached levels that, if maintained for a sufficiently long period, will make a significant contribution to returning inflation to the target level. I would like to underline that, as has been the case so far, the next steps will depend on the current situation, in particular economic and financial data, the evolution of underlying inflation and the strength of the impact of our actions. Accordingly, our future decisions will continue to ensure that interest rate levels remain sufficiently restrictive for as long as it takes for inflation to return to our 2% target in time.’
Yannis Stournaras (Bank of Greece)
21 September 2023
‘Yes, I think we have reached the interest rate peak. That is my feeling and my understanding. … Monetary policy is not an exact science. But our impression is that the interest rate level we have reached now, if we maintain it for some time, will lead to inflation being back at our target level of 2.0% by the end of 2025. Maybe it will even be a little earlier.’
‘I would also have preferred to leave the key interest rates unchanged. The clear decline in inflation, the stagnating economy, the tightening so far - in my view, that would have justified not raising rates. But there were good arguments on both sides and that's why I can live with the decision. However, one should not overdo it with the restrictive monetary policy. Otherwise there are also risks for financial stability. I am very worried about the "snowball effects" [in which interest costs exceed nominal economic growth and the debt ratio rises]. … Many people think that this is only relevant for states and public finances. But it also applies to private households and companies. We can quickly get into big problems there. So far we have been lucky that nominal growth has been much higher than interest costs. But that can now turn around. It is therefore all the more important that everyone else makes their contribution. That is why we are appealing in particular to fiscal policy and made this very clear at the most recent meeting of the informal Ecofin in Spain.’
‘It is still too early to say when the key interest rates can be lowered again. We first have to keep them at the current level for some time. We have also communicated that. … It is difficult to say [what “sufficiently long” means]. In any case, we are talking about a few months. We will have to decide how many, depending on the data. … The uncertainty is great and there are risks. But as things stand, I assume that our next step will be an interest rate cut.’
‘We have to be very careful about that [speeding up QT]. For now, we have tightened monetary policy enough. We are already reducing the balance sheet very strongly because we have ended the reinvestments in the APP. If we were to increase the pace significantly now, there could be an outcry in the markets and turbulences. We should not take any unnecessary risks. This is all the more true because PEPP gives us the necessary flexibility to act if there are problems with the transmission of monetary policy. … Such a move [active sales] would be very risky. By the way, there is a second argument. If we were to sell bonds, we as central banks would realise losses on those bonds that are so far purely theoretical and will not become reality if we hold the securities to maturity. Why would we do that?’
‘The increase [in expectations recently] is relatively small and, all in all, inflation expectations are still very well anchored. And the increase is more than compensated for by the decline in growth expectations. That, at least, is not a cause for too much concern.’
‘Euro area growth this and next year is expected to be modest. The moderation in energy prices, the easing of supply bottlenecks and a resilient labour market will support growth. However, the lagged effects of monetary policy tightening over the past 21 months will continue to feed through to the real economy. Together with the gradual withdrawal of fiscal support, these factors will weigh on growth and keep it modest. Regarding headline inflation, there has been a substantial decline in the course of 2023, largely due to declining energy and food inflation. This is good news, as the impact of the shocks that caused inflation to rise steeply in the first place is unwinding. Headline inflation will continue to decrease further towards its target in 2025. Underlying inflation will also ease as the indirect effects from past energy and food price shocks fade. While wage growth is catching up to restore the purchasing power of households, profits should provide a buffer against the pass-through of higher labour costs to prices.’
‘Monetary policy has done its part to fight inflation. Now it’s up to fiscal policy to take out some of the heat.’
‘A more restrictive fiscal stance wouldn’t only be a welcome strategic complement to ECB policy but also help improve the credibility of public debt and loosen the nexus with banks. There are synergies that should be reaped.’
‘I would have preferred to hold rates last week. But there were arguments in favor of both outcomes — hiking and holding — so I’m fine with the decision we took.’
‘As monetary tightening has caused a general increase in interest rates and weaker growth, there is no room for complacency in fiscal policy. In this context it is imperative that the fiscal stance remains restrictive, and the new fiscal rules (which are more flexible and avoid the procyclicality of the previous ones) are in place in the Eurozone from the beginning of 2024. The increase in ECB interest rates and the curtailment of its balance sheet (through TLTRO repayments and APP pause of reinvestments) have up to now been beneficial for commercial bank profitability via an increase in their interest rate margins (because they reprice lending rates immediately but deposit rates with a substantial lag). However, this is not expected to continue due to the gradual increase in deposit interest rates, funding costs from money markets and the reduction of loan demand. Hence, commercial banks should be prepared for a more difficult banking and macroeconomic environment, due to monetary policy tightening. The non-bank financial sector (money market funds, hedge funds, private equity funds, asset management companies, insurance companies, pension funds, etc.) has in general behaved rather well despite the multiplicity of shocks in recent years. However higher interest rates, low growth, demanding market valuations provide reasons for concern, the more so due to the various kinds of exposures of banks to non-banks.’
Peter Kažimír (National Bank of Slovakia)
18 September 2023
‘I wish last week’s interest rate hike was the last one. Nevertheless, common sense dictates, “Never say never.” We now must wait for the next inflation and economic growth forecasts due in December and March next year. Only the March forecast can confirm that we are heading unequivocally and steadily towards our inflation goal. That is why I cannot rule out the possibility of further rate increases today. Should the September hike be the last one, we have the answer as to how high it will be necessary to go with rates. This is clearly good news for all the people and all those who plan to borrow money from a bank. It remains open and unanswered how long it will be necessary to stay with rates at peak levels. The most sincere answer would be: “As long as we are not sure that inflation is undoubtedly heading towards the target despite the ever-present risks.” It is, therefore, premature to place market bets on when the first interest rate cuts will occur. I understand that this is precisely what the markets are analyzing and betting on today. Assume we’re (already) at the top. If so, we may have to stay camping here for quite some time and spend the winter, spring and summer here. We will see. At the same time, the end of interest rate hikes opens a debate on whether, and if so, how to adjust our plans with the PEPP and APP purchase programmes. On this one, I would wait to touch the control buttons for the coming six months. As soon as incoming economic data and analyses confirm that further tightening is unnecessary, I see room for a debate about adjusting the pace of our quantitative tightening. In other words, how quickly will we reduce our bond portfolio accumulated in recent years. Short and sweet, the next stop is December!’
Mário Centeno (Banco de Portugal)
02 October 2023
‘A persistently high inflation may have disruptive effects on households and businesses. The recent ECB Governing Council decisions reflect this concern. High inflation introduces uncertainty into real incomes, requires a firm monetary policy to generate a more predictable economic environment. … For loans or mortgages with variable interest rates or short maturities, the sudden increase in short-term interest rates, driven by monetary policy, places a heavy burden. The current interest rates cycle with the largest increase in the shortest time – 450bp in little more than a year – has been demanding.’
‘We believe that, if we keep them at this level, we will do something decisive so that inflation can converge to 2%, which is our target. The most important thing at this point was to provide some predictability so that we can adapt to what is expected in the coming months. The risk of doing too much is always present in monetary policy, it happened in 2008 and 2011 when the ECB had to backtrack because raising rates was not compatible with price, financial and economic stability. That risk is real and we have to be vigilant.’
‘The decision has been made, we are all involved in it, beyond personal opinions. We now have the challenge of ensuring that the predictability we added to the Council's message comes to fruition. We must lower inflation and guarantee that the economic mechanisms are up to the task. We cannot deviate from this path because inflation is more regressive and socially unfair than the measures we use to combat it, which are often harsh and damage the economy. The problem is that inflation does it too. We in the Governing Council try to manage this difficult balance.’
Gabriel Makhlouf (Central Bank of Ireland)
21 September 2023
‘In recent months, disinflation has slowed and core inflation – that is, excluding food and energy prices – has fluctuated in a tight range around 5.5% throughout 2023 (Figure 1b). There is clearly more work to do in order to return inflation sustainably to our 2% target, and in a timely manner. The calibration of our monetary policy will be increasingly focused on domestic drivers of inflation. This is where the labour market, and wage developments in particular, play a significant role in our deliberations.’
‘…it is this third aspect of resilience that is the decisive one for the current monetary policy outlook, namely the current strong demand for workers, despite the growth slowdown in recent quarters and the sharp tightening of monetary policy over the last year. This is contributing to historically tight labour markets, although we may have passed “peak tightness”, as seen through the recent decline in job openings in some countries, and weaker forward-looking employment indicators.’
‘If wage growth turns out to be weaker, then we may see a faster decline in core inflation than currently envisaged. If it turns out to be stronger, then the core inflation will prove stickier. How is it that core inflation is projected to decline, even in the face of historically high wage growth? The answer is that other factors are expected to exert downward pressure on core inflation over the projection horizon, falling input costs from non-labour factors as supply chains normalise, lower profit margins and rising labour productivity. To conclude, I want to outline what I see as the key risk factors around these wage projections. On the upside, I see two potential upside risks. One is a more resilient labour demand. And to monitor this I will be closely following both employment growth and job vacancy statistics. The second is inflation expectations – not something I have paid attention to in my speech today, but nonetheless important. The experience of the 1970s taught us the importance of inflation expectations for wage and price dynamics. In the euro area, expectations increased with the recent surge in inflation, although recent data points to a gradual return to our 2% target for short-term consumer inflation expectations, and medium-term expectations remaining anchored around our 2% target. The anchoring of medium-term expectations plays an important role in our projected disinflation path. On the downside risks to wage growth, I primarily see one: downside risks to economic growth itself. As we saw in the historical analysis of vacancy-unemployment dynamics, a longer and deeper slowdown could lead to a bigger increase in the unemployment rate, which will put downward pressure on wages. To monitor this, I will be paying close attention to monthly unemployment dynamics, softer indicators such as PMI employment expectations, and wage trackers, such as that developed at the Central Bank of Ireland in collaboration with Indeed. I will also be listening closely to what companies in Ireland and the euro are tell us as part of our regular market intelligence gathering exercises. As you can see, there are many factors that go into our monetary policy decisions. At each of our six-weekly meetings, the Governing Council assesses what the available evidence tells us about the path for underlying inflation and the transmission of our monetary policy to-date. This is the essence of what ‘data dependent’ means, and it brings me to my final point. One aspect of our recent decision that has received some attention was the statement that “key ECB interest rates have reached levels that, maintained for a sufficiently long duration, will make a substantial contribution to the timely return of inflation to the target”. Substantial does not mean complete and this should not be interpreted as an unconditional commitment that we have reached the so-called ‘peak rate’ in this hiking cycle. It is the Governing Council’s current view of the monetary policy path based on what we are seeing in the data right now, and our recent projections, a view that could change if some of the risk factors that I have highlighted materialise. This is the essence of our “data-dependent approach to determining the appropriate level and duration of restriction”. As our statements have made clear for some time: “interest rate decisions will be based on [the Governing Council’s] assessment of the inflation outlook in light of the incoming economic and financial data, the dynamics of underlying inflation, and the strength of monetary policy transmission.”’
‘…our measures are necessary to ensure that inflation returns back to our 2% target over the medium term. If inflation becomes entrenched across the economy, the overall costs to society – including of subsequent actions to bring inflation back to target – will be much larger.’
‘We consider that the key ECB interest rates have reached levels that, maintained for a sufficiently long duration, will make a substantial contribution to the timely return of inflation to our target.’
‘The Governing Council of the ECB is taking the necessary decisions to get inflation back to target but of course, monetary policy is set for the euro area as a whole, whereas fiscal policy remains a national competence. So, as we come up to the Budget, it is important that fiscal policy doesn’t add to our own domestic inflation problem. It would be counter-productive for domestic policy to stimulate demand and result in in a period of higher and more prolonged inflation in Ireland than currently expected. It would damage the competitiveness of the Irish economy and potentially undermine its ability to deliver sustainable growth in living standards.’
‘It will take time for the full impact of rising rates to be felt fully by households and businesses. Given historical patterns, we expect the banking channel to strengthen in the months ahead. People should be prepared to continue to see increases in both their deposit and lending rates over the coming months. Firms will make their own commercial decisions, but the transmission of monetary policy measures is critical to ensure that inflation returns back to our target of 2%.’
‘The outlook for the remainder of 2023 and into 2024 will continue to be characterised by high uncertainty, as the battle against high inflation continues.’
‘My view at the moment is that March is probably too early [for easing] and certainly people should not be planning on the basis that March will be the start of this.’
‘I’m not saying that at our next meeting we’re going to hold.’
Gediminas Šimkus (Bank of Lithuania)
26 September 2023
‘We need to start talking about the programme sooner rather than later. We have an environment that’s changed completely from the point when the decision [on PEPP forward guidance] was made.’
‘Any decision on PEPP must be carefully assessed before it’s taken. But this doesn’t mean we can’t start talking about this now.’
‘From the information that’s available now, we’re on track with this monetary policy to see inflation returning to levels of 2% by the end of 2025.’
‘I want to hope this is the last dose of medicine - the raise of 25bp.’
Robert Holzmann (Austrian National Bank)
27 September 2023
‘I suggest that the banks deposit more money with us as minimum reserves without interest, as was the case in the past. I am thinking of 5 to 10%.’
‘I suspect that one or two people sympathise with my point of view.’
‘Should we be forced to take similar [non-stamdard monetary policy] measures again in the future, we will need reserves in our balance sheet to do so.’
‘There are shocks out there which may force us to go higher. Inflation needs to be kept under control and that’s what we’re here for.’
‘We definitely can’t say that this was the final hike. The likelihood isn’t big, but there is a risk more tightening might be needed.’
‘Looking at some of the reactions to our decision, one could think we agreed on a dovish hike. I don’t agree with such an interpretation, especially given that inflation risks haven’t receded of late.’
Boris Vujčić (Croatian National Bank)
29 September 2023
‘Hopefully … we are able to get inflation back to target without causing a recession. This is what we project now…’
‘I’m quite confident that we will see now in the next few months a decline in the inflation rate.’
‘This is a risk of the disinflation process in an environment of a soft landing and strong labour markets and significant wage growth. So, you might get into a situation where the inflation rate, the disinflation process, stops at a level which is not your target, and then it’s challenging for monetary policy, because it has to do something more … to bring it all the way down to 2%.’
‘So, there are lots of uncertainties ahead of us and we have to be very careful.’
‘If things develop in accordance with our expectations, if we have a continued fall of inflation as we’re expecting, then it won’t be necessary to raise interest rates further.’
‘I think that in the next three months we’ll see a further reduction of the inflation rate. But what it will look like next year is difficult to say. Possible shocks could come from energy, food prices, climate change, and politics.’
‘As the inflation rate eases, the level of 4% will become more restrictive. If we see a faster fall of inflation, I think it is easier to lower the rate, than to raise it.’
‘We now have a liquidity surplus in deposits on which banks earn interest. A way to sterilize that is to raise minimum reserve requirements.’
‘Existing risks for further prospects of inflation, either positive or negative, still require a vigilant monitoring of trends and data so that the measures of monetary policy can continue to respond to the challenges in a timely manner.’
Gaston Reinesch (Central Bank of Luxembourg)
NO UPDATE
Constantinos Herodotou (Central Bank of Cyprus)
NO UPDATE
Edward Scicluna (Central Bank of Malta)
NO UPDATE
END