By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Executive Board member Frank Elderson said Wednesday that Europe’s banks were being held back mainly by the lack of a genuinely unified banking market, rather than by prudential rules.
13 May 2026
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Joachim Nagel said on Tuesday that “interest rate hikes will become increasingly likely” if the inflation outlook does not improve significantly.
12 May 2026
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Alexander Demarco said Tuesday that the ECB’s ability to look through the latest oil shock was weakening as the Middle East conflict drags on and energy prices remain elevated.
12 May 2026
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Executive Board member Frank Elderson on Tuesday said Europe’s banking sector was held back by fragmented markets rather than excessive regulation, calling for faster progress on the banking union, capital markets integration and the Single Market.
12 May 2026
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Joachim Nagel said on Tuesday that large or persistent effects from the Middle East conflict on inflation would require action from the ECB.
12 May 2026
By Laura Contemori – ROME (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Fabio Panetta was elected chair of the board of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) for a three-year term starting June 3, the BIS said in a press release on Tuesday.
12 May 2026
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Christodoulos Patsalides said in an interview published Monday that worsening inflation risks were pushing the ECB toward a possible June rate hike, though he cautioned that any move would depend on incoming data and would not necessarily open a new tightening phase.
11 May 2026
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Olli Rehn said on Monday that Europe should brace for a lengthy war in the Middle East, arguing that China may not really be pushing Iran toward peace.
11 May 2026
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde has not undone the hawkish signal of April 30, when she suggested that “directionally, I know where we're heading.” Still, she has made clearer that June 11 may be more open than markets believed.
11 May 2026
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – European Central Bank Vice President Luis de Guindos said on Monday that the ECB must be prudent ahead of its next interest rate decision, warning that incoming economic data are likely to show weaker growth amid the ongoing energy-price shock.
11 May 2026
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Martin Kocher said that the risk of stagflation in the Eurozone could not be ruled out and that the ECB should not wait too long to raise interest rates if energy prices failed to improve quickly and clearly.
11 May 2026
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Yannis Stournaras said on Sunday that Europe needed to deepen integration to raise growth, strengthen resilience and close its financing gap with other major economies.
10 May 2026
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member José Luis Escrivá on Saturday said private stablecoins could not serve as the anchor of the monetary system, arguing that central banks remained essential guarantors of trust amid geoeconomic fragmentation and rapid technological change.
9 May 2026
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said on Saturday that the ECB faced “massive uncertainty” over the Middle East war and needed more data before deciding whether to raise interest rates in June.
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By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – Econostream’s ECB Tone Meter moved further into hawkish territory this week, with both the Governing Council and Executive Board indices penetrating deeper into the slightly hawkish range between +0.5 and +2.5.
8 May 2026
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Joachim Nagel said on Friday that the Eurosystem remained highly vigilant about inflationary risks stemming from the energy shock, while arguing that Germany faced major structural challenges requiring reforms to labor supply, investment conditions and productivity growth.
8 May 2026
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – European Central Bank Vice President Luis de Guindos said on Friday that the full impact of the energy shock on economic activity had yet to materialize.
8 May 2026
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Although her remarks on Thursday evening may have been taken hawkishly, European Central Bank Executive Board member Isabel Schnabel did not make the case that the ECB must raise rates in June, even if such an outcome seems likely from today’s perspective. Rather, while continuing to leave the ECB an escape hatch, she emphasized that waiting for wage growth to prove second-round effects could imply waiting too long.
8 May 2026
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member François Villeroy de Galhau’s final monetary policy speech as Banque de France governor on Thursday was meant to be an exercise in humility. Hypocrisy won.
8 May 2026
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde on Friday said Europe should not respond to the spread of dollar stablecoins by simply promoting euro-denominated versions, warning that this could create financial stability risks and weaken monetary policy transmission.
8 May 2026