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ECB Insight: Villeroy Squares the Forward Guidance Circle

ECB Insight: Villeroy Squares the Forward Guidance Circle

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member François Villeroy de Galhau on Tuesday sought to avoid throwing out the baby with the bathwater, preserving some semblance of forward guidance for ECB policy while acknowledging room for improvement.

16 February 2022
ECB Insight: Lagarde Sticks to Last Week’s Text, No New Ground During Q&A

ECB Insight: Lagarde Sticks to Last Week’s Text, No New Ground During Q&A

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – As in her appearance at a hearing of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament exactly one week ago, Lagarde on Monday made prepared remarks with the same more dovish tone than at the press conference on February 3, but went strictly no further.

14 February 2022
ECB Insight: Schnabel, on Twitter, Hews Unerringly to the ECB Line

ECB Insight: Schnabel, on Twitter, Hews Unerringly to the ECB Line

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – If thought-provoking exegeses of important issues were the goal, the medium of communication would likely be other than Twitter. In a Twitter interview on Wednesday, European Central Bank Executive Board member Isabel Schnabel steered clear of venturing out onto any limbs.

9 February 2022
ECB Insight: Nagel Confirms Expectations by Advocating Prompt Policy Normalisation

ECB Insight: Nagel Confirms Expectations by Advocating Prompt Policy Normalisation

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
ECB Insight: Lagarde Sees a Changed Situation; Policy Move in March Not Excluded

ECB Insight: Lagarde Sees a Changed Situation; Policy Move in March Not Excluded

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
ECB Insight: Lagarde Likely to Be Less Categorical About Timing of Lift-Off

ECB Insight: Lagarde Likely to Be Less Categorical About Timing of Lift-Off

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
ECB Insight: Meeting Account Confirms Lagarde Played Down Upside Inflation Concerns

ECB Insight: Meeting Account Confirms Lagarde Played Down Upside Inflation Concerns

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
ECB Insight: Nagel Wastes No Time Making Clear Bundesbank Tradition to Continue

ECB Insight: Nagel Wastes No Time Making Clear Bundesbank Tradition to Continue

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