By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Pierre Wunsch is hardly the least serious name in the discussion about who will eventually succeed ECB President Christine Lagarde, making his multiple drawbacks as a potential candidate all the more deserving of scrutiny.
3 June 2026
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Pierre Wunsch on Wednesday signaled support for a 25bp rate increase on June 11, saying the case for hiking would probably remain in place even if a peace deal in the Middle East were confirmed shortly before the meeting.
3 June 2026
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – European Central Bank Vice President Boris Vujčić said on Tuesday that successful participation in a monetary union required durable convergence and policy credibility over time, noting that monetary integration could not be achieved through a single policy decision or a temporary alignment of economic indicators.
2 June 2026
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Gediminas Šimkus said on Tuesday that he saw no reason for the ECB to surprise financial markets by holding interest rates steady next week.
2 June 2026
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Olli Rehn's speech on Tuesday mounted the clearest argument yet for characterizing a likely June rate hike as an “insurance hike,” even as it illustrated the peril of the phrase.
2 June 2026
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Olli Rehn said Tuesday that a rate increase next week would amount to insurance against inflation risks rather than a response to already entrenched price pressures.
2 June 2026
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Counicl member Olaf Sleijpen said on Tuesday that rapidly rising government debt could constrain central banks' ability to combat inflation, noting that concerns about debt sustainability could make interest rate hikes more difficult to implement effectively.
2 June 2026
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member François Villeroy de Galhau said on Monday that the Banque de France would lower its growth forecasts, although the French economy would still be expected to expand in most of its scenarios.
1 June 2026
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Executive Board member Isabel Schnabel on Monday reiterated that the ECB could “no longer look through” the shock from the conflict in the Middle East.
1 June 2026
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Less than a month after we pointed out that European Central Bank Vice President Luis de Guindos’ praise for ex-Banco de España Governor Pablo Hernández de Cos kept getting fainter, the next step has arrived: the former no longer mentions the latter at all.
1 June 2026
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Eurozone consumers’ near-term inflation expectations remained elevated in April, while their assessment of recent inflation rose significantly, the European Central Bank said Monday.
1 June 2026
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Executive Board member Isabel Schnabel on Monday warned that the rapid growth of stablecoins could pose risks to financial stability, affect the transmission of monetary policy and further entrench the global dominance of the U.S. dollar, arguing that central banks must respond through regulation and continued innovation in public money.
1 June 2026
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Vice President Luis de Guindos said in an interview published Sunday that a global supply shock would first affect inflation and then growth, and warned against assuming that a possible June rate hike would necessarily be followed by another move.
31 May 2026
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Álvaro Santos Pereira said over the weekend that monetary policy should act quickly if inflationary pressures risk becoming persistent, signaling support for a rate hike at the ECB’s June 11 meeting.
31 May 2026
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – Econostream’s ECB Tone Meter moved more hawkish in both indices this week, with the Governing Council measure moving from slightly hawkish territory to close to outright hawkish territory, while the gap with the Executive Board narrowed substantially.
29 May 2026
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Dimitar Radev said on Friday that the risks of delaying monetary policy action could outweigh those of moving earlier.
29 May 2026
By David Barwick – VILNIUS (Econostream) – Following is the full transcript of the interview conducted by Econostream on 28 May 2026 with Gediminas Šimkus, Chairman of the Board of the Bank of Lithuania and member of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank:
29 May 2026
By David Barwick – VILNIUS (Econostream) – A 25bp June interest rate hike by the European Central Bank would be prudent and a second tightening move thereafter is more likely than not, according to ECB Governing Council member Gediminas Šimkus, who said that policymakers should gather additional evidence after June rather than feel compelled to tighten again immediately.
29 May 2026
By Laura Contemori – ROME (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Fabio Panetta on Friday said the ECB’s monetary policy stance should be reevaluated, as the energy shock is already pushing up consumer prices.
29 May 2026
By Laura Contemori – ROME (Econostream) – European Central Bank Executive Board member Piero Cipollone said on Thursday that central banks should embrace the digitalization of money and payments while preserving safety, uniformity and reliability.
28 May 2026