ECB’s Escrivá: We Need to Move Gradually to More Neutral Stance Over Next Semester

23 January 2025

By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member José Luis Escrivá said on Thursday that the ECB’s central scenario consisted of gradual moves approaching neutral over the next six months.

In a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Escrivá, who heads the Banco de España, said that ‘[w]e still have a policy in Europe which is somewhat restrictive, and we need to move gradually to a more neutral stance over the next semester.’

This was the central scenario, he added, arguing that at the same time the ECB had to retain optionality due to uncertainty.

‘[W]e have to examine very carefully all the incoming information [to see] if they confirm the central scenario’, he said. ‘Because at the same time there are risks in both directions. So, its two sided, actually.’

Markets had been too optimistic about Trump’s policies being mainly positive for growth, Escrivá said.

‘Certainly, some of them are growth-enhancing, but not all of them are by any means […]. I mean, Tariffs are not growth-enhancing, certainly not for the global economy, not in the long term for the US’, he said.