ECB’s Makhlouf: Some Risks Receding, but Others Emerging

8 November 2023

By Isabel Teles – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Gabriel Makhlouf on Wednesday said that new risks were taking the place of risks that were receding.

Speaking at a financial system conference of the Central Bank of Ireland, which he heads, Makhlouf said, according to a text of his remarks, that ‘[a] large part of monetary tightening has yet to be passed through to the financial system and to the economy; and while some risks are fading, new risks are emerging.’

 The 'huge uncertainty as to what lies ahead' must not paralyse policymakers, he said. ‘We live in uncertain times, but we cannot wait for certainty to act.’

‘The economy and financial system [are] still adjusting to the change in interest rates by central banks’, he said. ‘Overall, although we have seen bouts of volatility and episodes of risk crystallisation globally, that adjustment to date has been relatively orderly.’

The principles of 'being forward looking, agile and connected, transparent, proportionate and predictable have applicability beyond regulation-making’, he said.