Central Bank Exclusives


EXCLUSIVE: ECB’s Wunsch: We Must Recognise That the World Has Changed in the Last Three Months

EXCLUSIVE: ECB’s Wunsch: We Must Recognise That the World Has Changed in the Last Three Months

By David Barwick – BRUSSELS (Econostream) - The global macroeconomic environment has changed greatly just over the past three months, adding to the uncertainty Europe’s monetary policymakers face, and it would require relatively little in terms of exogenous developments for euro area 2023 HICP to wind up at 2%, European Central Bank Governing Council member Pierre Wunsch said Friday.

16 November 2021
ECB Insight: TLTROs More Likely to Be Extended Than Not, ECB Insiders Indicate

ECB Insight: TLTROs More Likely to Be Extended Than Not, ECB Insiders Indicate

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – A growing market perception that the European Central Bank is likely to continue offering targeted longer-term refinancing operations (TLTROs) on somewhat less advantageous terms in a post-pandemic world stands a decent chance of becoming reality, Econostream believes.

15 November 2021
ECB Insight: ECB May Push Back Against Policy Sequencing Inversion Now, But Ultimately Embrace It

ECB Insight: ECB May Push Back Against Policy Sequencing Inversion Now, But Ultimately Embrace It

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Of increasing interest lately is the possibility that the European Central Bank might ultimately deviate from monetary policy orthodoxy and start the lift-off from its low interest rates before asset purchases have come to a complete halt. An insider Econostream spoke to suggested such a sequencing inversion would ultimately prevail.

27 October 2021
ECB Insight: Villeroy Dons the Mantle of ECB Spokesperson Again

ECB Insight: Villeroy Dons the Mantle of ECB Spokesperson Again

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member François Villeroy de Galhau, freshly nominated to a second term at the helm of Banque de France, delivered a speech on Tuesday in which he staked out a broad array of bold positions:

13 October 2021
ECB Insight: On Inflation, Schnabel Has More Questions Than Answers

ECB Insight: On Inflation, Schnabel Has More Questions Than Answers

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – The European Central Bank remains profoundly unsure about where inflation in the euro area is headed, and while Executive Board member Isabel Schnabel’s speech on Thursday offered an interesting recital of many reasons why, it served to highlight that uncertainty more than to shed any new light.

7 October 2021
ECB Insight: Stournaras, Awake at Night Worrying About a Withdrawal of ECB Support

ECB Insight: Stournaras, Awake at Night Worrying About a Withdrawal of ECB Support

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Yannis Stournaras on Monday conceded the strength of the recovery in the euro area and in particular in his native Greece, all while vehemently urging monetary authorities to discount presently elevated inflation and maintain the current degree of accommodation.

4 October 2021
ECB Insight: Lagarde’s Policy Panel Suggests an Unsure ECB Watching and Waiting

ECB Insight: Lagarde’s Policy Panel Suggests an Unsure ECB Watching and Waiting

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde’s unremarkable contribution on Wednesday to the policy panel of the ECB Forum on Central Banking was probably reflective of the inescapable fact that there remain months to go until the ECB’s next date with destiny, so that for now it is simply waiting and hoping for a bit of clarity to emerge from the fog.

29 September 2021