By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – If there were any lingering doubts as to where Joachim Nagel, the newest member of the European Central Bank’s Governing Council, stood on the issues of the day, he effectively did away with them on Wednesday by positioning himself clearly in favour of normalising monetary policy sooner rather than later.
9 February 2022
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde appeared on Monday to want to take at least some of the hawkish edge off her performance last Thursday.
8 February 2022
Following is the full transcript of the interview conducted by Econostream on February 2 with Teppo Koivisto, director of the Finance Division of Finland’s State Treasury and thus responsible for Finnish public debt management.
7 February 2022
- ‘What we’d like to see is more standardisation in the sustainable bond market overall’
- Noticing that ‘investors are a little bit more cautious with regard to duration’
- Will eventually cease issuing 15-years entirely, depending on funding volumes
- Expect roughly same or slightly more green expenditures to issue green bonds in 2022
- Ultra-long maturities more and more attractive, but not yet at necessary threshold
Following is the full transcript of the interview conducted by Econostream on January 24 with Tammo Diemer, member of the Executive Board of Germany’s Finance Agency:
4 February 2022
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde’s performance at the press conference on Thursday suggested that she is finally taking her Governing Council colleagues’ inflation fears with the commensurate degree of seriousness and that she regards the situation as having changed in a way that could conceivably lead to a policy move as soon as March.
3 February 2022
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Judging by the effort European Central Bank Governing Council members have put into hammering home their views since their last gathering, one might think that the meeting this week stood to yield a particularly significant outcome following a heated debate. While the discussion will probably be spirited, expectations of major results are likely to be dashed.
1 February 2022
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – The account of the European Central Bank’s policy meeting of 15-16 December, released by the ECB on Thursday, suggested that reasonably widely held views of the inflation outlook expressed at the gathering got relatively little airtime at the subsequent press conference by President Christine Lagarde - or since.
20 January 2022
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Econostream’s ranking of Governing Council members in terms of hawkishness/dovishness has been updated today in two respects: a major re-ranking of Banque de France Governor François Villeroy de Galhau and a minor adjustment to the placement of Banque centrale du Luxembourg Governor Gaston Reinesch.
19 January 2022
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Do central bankers anticipate economic developments well enough to remain perpetually one step ahead of financial markets and shape monetary policy proactively, or does the lack of any special foreknowledge mean that in fact they essentially go with the flow?
18 January 2022
- Denmark Debt Head: Use of Auction Signals That Green Bond Part of Our Regular Issuances
- Denmark Debt Head: Must Also Stay Very Focused on Keeping Main Benchmark Series Liquid
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Lest anyone had doubted, newly minted European Central Bank Governing Council member Joachim Nagel made clear at his very first opportunity that the German Bundesbank would continue its tradition of standing up for stable prices and against policy activism.
11 January 2022
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – For anyone interested in how the energy transition might ultimately play out in terms of inflation, European Central Bank Executive Board member Isabel Schnabel provided the clearest theoretical answer to date.
10 January 2022
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Following is the full transcript of the interview conducted by Econostream on 09 December with Agence France Trésor Chief Executive Cyril Rousseau:
20 December 2021
- AFT’s ‘robust system’ has worked before under volatility and will function again if necessary
- Downward revision of financing programme only if very clear economic improvement early in the year
- ‘Quite excited to take a closer look at’ adding green dot, but decision depends on study outcome
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde on Thursday managed to deliver a set of decisions that preserved a high degree of optionality and flexibility and showed growing open-mindedness at the ECB about what would follow currently elevated uncertainty.
16 December 2021
- Insider: ‘We are not going to allow inflation in Europe to move beyond our objective, full stop’
- Insider: ‘Considerations about fiscal conditions should play no role at all’
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Seven weeks ago, we noted in this space that the Governing Council meeting of the European Central Bank that was then two days off had been preceded by an unusually thin trickle of communication, at least from the Executive Board. Now, the opposite is more the case, with seemingly every member of the Council having weighed in, in many cases more than once, about coming decisions or the possibility of deferring these.
14 December 2021