Central Bank News


ECB’s Šimkus: Pent-Up Demand, Investment to Spur Growth Next Year

ECB’s Šimkus: Pent-Up Demand, Investment to Spur Growth Next Year

In an interview with public broadcaster Lithuanian National Radio and Television, Šimkus, who took over the helm of the Bank of Lithuania earlier this month, declined to address monetary policy questions directly on account of the quiet period ahead of Thursday's Governing Council meeting.

20 April 2021
ECB Insight: Time to Make Clearer That Downside Risks Are Not the Only Ones

ECB Insight: Time to Make Clearer That Downside Risks Are Not the Only Ones

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – In recent weeks one might be excused for thinking that some members of the European Central Bank’s Governing Council live in dread fear of an economic improvement in the Eurozone that could lead to any withdrawal of monetary accommodation. Given that it has become significantly harder to overlook the likelihood of such an improvement, as the need to make important policy decisions approaches inexorably, ECB President Christine Lagarde’s role as mediator could take on new meaning this Thursday.

20 April 2021
German Finance Minister: Goal Is To Leave Pandemic Behind Us This Summer

German Finance Minister: Goal Is To Leave Pandemic Behind Us This Summer

In an interview with German daily Saarbrücker Zeitung, Scholz said, ‘Our goal is to make good progress with vaccination week by week so that we can finally leave the pandemic behind us in the summer. But this also requires that the number of newly infected people does not increase too much and throw a spanner in the works - which is why we need to act decisively now.’

15 April 2021
German Inflation Confirmed at 1.7% Y/Y in March

German Inflation Confirmed at 1.7% Y/Y in March

The increase was the fastest since 1.7% in both January and February of last year, and represented a clear pick-up of the pace of price growth after February’s 1.3%, January’s 1.0% and negative annual readings in each of the last four months of last year.

15 April 2021
ECB’s Scicluna: Risks Assessed as More Balanced After 2021

ECB’s Scicluna: Risks Assessed as More Balanced After 2021

In a statement in the annual report of the Central Bank of Malta, which he heads, Scicluna said that Malta’s relatively good economic conditions ‘means that once foreign demand recovers and the lingering uncertainty surrounding the medical crisis dissipates, the Maltese economy can be expected to rebound from the COVID-19 shock.’

14 April 2021