By David Barwick and Marta Vilar – VALLETTA (Econostream) - Following is the full transcript of the interview conducted by Econostream on 18 March with Alexander Demarco, Acting Governor of the Central Bank of Malta and alternate member of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank:
19 March 2025
By David Barwick and Marta Vilar – VALLETTA (Econostream) – While elevated uncertainty implies that a pause in monetary policy easing cannot currently be excluded in April, there may be reason for the European Central Bank to stick to the ‘default’ option of another rate cut, according to ECB Governing Council alternate member Alexander Demarco.
19 March 2025
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Boris Vujčić said on Tuesday that the outcome of the Governing Council’s meeting in April is ‘completely open’.
18 March 2025
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Olli Rehn said on Tuesday that the ECB wanted to retain ‘full freedom of action’ and was not going to precommit with respect to its next interest rate decision.
18 March 2025
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Yannis Stournaras on Monday repeated his expectation that the ECB would hit the terminal rate of 2% by 4Q of this year.
17 March 2025
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – European Central Bank Vice President Luis de Guindos said on Monday that the initial inflationary impact of tariffs could be offset by the weakening of economic activity.
17 March 2025
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – In the review we published one week ago of where each European Central Bank Governing Council member appeared to stand with respect to April’s monetary policy decision, we had to relegate ECB Vice President Luis de Guindos to the category ‘too unclear to call’. Not anymore.
17 March 2025
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Vice President Luis de Guindos on Sunday gave an upbeat assessment about the likelihood that euro area inflation would return to 2% in the medium term.
16 March 2025
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member José Luis Escrivá said on Friday that he would like to see services inflation declining further.
14 March 2025
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Robert Holzmann said on Friday that he would back holding interest rates when the Council meets in April.
14 March 2025
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member José Luis Escrivá on Friday said the ECB’s policy easing had fed through to the cost of borrowing for companies.
14 March 2025
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member François Villeroy de Galhau said on Friday that the ECB would return to its 2% inflation target in 2025.
14 March 2025
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Joachim Nagel said on Thursday that the ECB would achieve the 2% inflation target in 2025.
13 March 2025
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Under the circumstances, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde's speech on Wednesday may have been as newsworthy as it could have been.
12 March 2025
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) - European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde on Wednesday said that while forward guidance was inconsistent with an environment of repeated shocks, the ECB could provide framework guidance involving greater clarity about its reaction function.
12 March 2025
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – The European Central Bank’s monetary policy may now be in neutral territory, according to Deutsche Bundesbank Board member Fritzi Köhler-Geib on Tuesday.
11 March 2025
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Olli Rehn said on Tuesday that an increase in defense spending would not necessarily slow down interest rate cuts.
11 March 2025
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Joachim Nagel said on Monday that the ECB had covered considerable ground in its effort to restore price stability.
10 March 2025
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – An initial member-by-member review of the European Central Bank Governing Council with respect to the appetite to cut interest rates again in April suggests that those in favour of pausing may not be breaking down an open door.
10 March 2025
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Peter Kažimír on Monday said that he was still looking for incontrovertible evidence that disinflation was here to stay, and warned that risks to inflation were on the upside.
10 March 2025