Central Bank

ECB Insight: Lagarde Notes Progress Towards Target While Remaining, as Expected, on Guard

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde performed much as expected on Thursday at the press conference following the Governing Council’s monetary policy meeting, acknowledging progress and not slamming any doors shut as she tempered her previous almost indignant rejection of early rate cuts and focused instead on the need to collect more data.

14 December 2023

ECB: Interest Rates Remain Unchanged; PEPP to Be Discontinued by the End of 2024

By Isabel Teles – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – The European Central Bank Governing Council on Thursday decided once again to keep its three key interest rates unchanged, a decision that had been anticipated by markets, and to discontinue reinvestments under the Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme (PEPP) by the end of next year.

14 December 2023

ECB’s Villeroy: Despite Inflation Improvement, General Public Still Unconvinced

By Isabel Teles – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member François Villeroy de Galhau on Tuesday said that euro area citizens were still impacted by inflation and that, despite the recent improvement in inflation figures, consumers were not yet convinced that things had turned around.

12 December 2023

ECB Insight: No Euphoria, No Victory Lap, No Rate Cut Talk; Lagarde Attentive and Focused

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – We see the key outcome of this week’s European Central Bank Governing Council meeting as a distinct but carefully measured and limited distancing from the hawkish tone of six weeks previously.

12 December 2023

They Said It - Recent Comments of ECB Governing Council Members

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 26 October, but earlier comments can still be seen in versions up to that of 25 October .

8 December 2023

ECB’s Elderson: Banks Need to Remediate Their Problems Faster

By Isabel Teles – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Executive Board member Frank Elderson on Thursday said that banks must not take long to address problems once these come to light.

7 December 2023

ECB Insight: Governing Council More Than Ready to Discuss QT, but Is Lagarde?

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – After kicking the QT can down the road at the European Central Bank Governing Council’s meeting in Athens at the end of October, ECB President Christine Lagarde could finally be ready to broach the subject at the next such gathering one week from today.

7 December 2023

ECB’s Nagel: ‘Quantum Computing Will Change the Financial Sector’

By Isabel Teles – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Joachim Nagel on Thursday said that the financial industry would be deeply impacted by the use of quantum computing in the long term.

7 December 2023

ECB’s Villeroy: ‘Barring Any Shock, There Will Be No Further Increase in Our Rates’

By Isabel Teles – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member François Villeroy de Galhau on Wednesday said that interest rates would not be raised again unless shocks demanded it and that rate cuts would be discussed in 2024 at the soonest.

7 December 2023

ECB’s Nagel: Should Be Flexibility in Managing Banking Crises

By Isabel Teles – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Joachim Nagel on Wednesday said in the context of Credit Suisse's financial problems this year that there should be flexibility in dealing with information on banking crises.

6 December 2023

ECB’s Kažimír: ‘Expecting a Cut in Q1/24 Is Science Fiction’

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Peter Kažimír on Wednesday derided the idea that the ECB might cut interest rates as early as next quarter.

6 December 2023

ECB Insight: Kazāks Comments Show Dovish Shift in Thinking

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Barring a dramatic event, one should not expect rhetorical about-faces from a central banker with well-known views; European Central Bank Executive Board member Isabel Schnabel came about as close to that on Tuesday as it gets.

6 December 2023

ECB’s Kazāks: No Need Now to Cut Rates in 1H, but if Situation Changes, Our Decisions Might Change

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – There is no currently apparent need for the European Central Bank to ease monetary policy in the first half of next year, making discussion of rate cuts premature, but a change in the situation could lead to another outcome, ECB Governing Council member Mārtiņš Kazāks said Wednesday.

6 December 2023

ECB Insight: Schnabel – From Saul to Paul?

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – It’s about time – that was our first thought on reading European Central Bank Executive Board member Isabel Schnabel’s latest contribution to the public discussion of the monetary policy outlook, in which she confessed to having come around to a less hawkish take on matters.

5 December 2023

ECB’s Knot: Coordination Essential to Global Financial System’s Resilience

By Isabel Teles – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Klaas Knot on Tuesday said that there were still many vulnerabilities in the global financial system that could be addressed by global coordination.

5 December 2023

ECB’s Schnabel: ‘Further Rate Increase Rather Unlikely’

By Isabel Teles – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Executive Board member Isabel Schnabel on Tuesday said that given recent inflation developments, further interest rate hikes were improbable.

5 December 2023

ECB: Consumer Expectations of Future Inflation Unchanged

By Isabel Teles – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – The European Central Bank’s consumer expectations survey, released Tuesday, showed October medium expectations of inflation for the next 12 months and three years ahead unchanged at 4% and 2.5%, respectively, compared to September.

5 December 2023

ECB’s Elderson: We Need Informed Decisions on Climate Change Adaptation

By Isabel Teles – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Executive Board member Frank Elderson on Monday said it was necessary to make informed decisions on how to direct money for long-term adaptation to climate change.

4 December 2023

ECB’s Lagarde: Supranational Governance Needs Strengthening

By Isabel Teles – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde on Monday said that the concept of supranational governance was confronting a lack of acceptance and should tackle the challenges facing it.

4 December 2023

ECB’s Centeno: Monetary Policy Must React Only if Necessary

By Isabel Teles – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Mário Centeno on Monday said that monetary policy was working and should not react to developments unless necessary.

4 December 2023