By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Although European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde is likely to be reticent on Thursday about the programme the Eurotower is working on to keep sovereign spreads in check, the facility may face a rocky road when it comes to internal approval, Econostream understands.
13 April 2022
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Though not yet a foregone conclusion, net asset purchases under the European Central Bank’s asset purchase programme (APP) are probably on track to come to an end in the first month of 3Q, Econostream understands.
7 April 2022
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – The ‘gradualism’ that the European Central Bank has been tirelessly emphasising of late would characterise its approach to monetary policy will find itself cast overboard if incoming data so dictate, Econostream understands.
4 April 2022
By David Barwick – BOLOGNA, Italy (Econostream) – The official baseline macroeconomic scenario of the European Central Bank is no longer valid and indeed the current outlook is more akin to the severe alternative scenario issued with the updated staff projections last month, Governing Council member Robert Holzmann said late Thursday.
1 April 2022
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – The latest baseline scenario of the European Central Bank, updated at the Governing Council monetary policy meeting last month, was never really valid, and policymakers increasingly see the euro area economy as being in one of the less optimistic scenarios the ECB presented at the time, Econostream understands.
1 April 2022
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Ignazio Visco on Thursday said that the ECB was not behind the curve. Coming from him, the ECB might want to reconsider whether it is at heightened risk of this happening.
18 March 2022
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – A close look at European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde’s comments on Thursday suggests, albeit subtly, somewhat more pessimism about inflation than just a week previously.
17 March 2022
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is no reason to think medium-term inflation prospects in the euro area have become less worrisome, European Central Bank Governing Council member Klaas Knot implicitly suggested on Thursday.
17 March 2022
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Some 2.5 million Ukrainian refugees have entered the EU in the last few weeks as a result of Russian military aggression, but this is so far seen by the ECB as being of limited relevance for labour market developments, Econostream understands.
15 March 2022
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – The days of the targeted longer-term refinancing operations (TLTROs) of the European Central Bank seem likely to be numbered, Econostream understands.
14 March 2022
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – The European Central Bank’s asset purchase programme could potentially wind up ending in the second quarter, Econostream understands.
11 March 2022
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – The European Central Bank Governing Council’s decision on Thursday should be understood less as an acceleration than as a logical response to an array of macroeconomic factors inconsistent with the present policy stance, in the view of one insider who spoke to Econostream.
11 March 2022
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Against the backdrop of high inflation, the European Central Bank Governing Council arrived relatively easily at an agreement this week not to wait until April to make monetary policy decisions, Econostream understands.
11 March 2022
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – After only last month finally starting to take upside inflation risks as seriously as many of her European Central Bank Governing Council colleagues had taken them for some time, President Christine Lagarde made it clear on Thursday that, ‘watershed’ event or not, for now Russia’s assault on Ukraine was not going to deter the ECB from pursuing normalisation.
10 March 2022
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – The March monetary policy meeting of the European Central Bank Governing Council comes down to the question of whether the additional uncertainty and the concern about growth resulting from Russian state terrorism against its neighbour warrant a pause in the incipient process of policy normalisation.
8 March 2022
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Following is the full transcript of the interview conducted by Econostream on March 02 with Mārtiņš Kazāks, Governor of Latvijas Banka and member of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank:
2 March 2022
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Russia’s military aggression will lead the European Central Bank to approach monetary policy normalisation with greater caution but does not necessarily imply a full stop, according to ECB Governing Council member Mārtiņš Kazāks on Wednesday.
2 March 2022
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – It was never likely to take long for those European Central Bank Governing Council members fundamentally disinclined to tighten monetary policy to hang their hat on what until late yesterday was still just a looming invasion of Ukraine by Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.
24 February 2022
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council Philip Lane on Wednesday sounded at pains to meet the hawks part way while implicitly rejecting the more alarmist views about price pressures as he conveyed his main message: that high inflation would ultimately give way to price stability.
24 February 2022
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Robert Holzmann supports tightening monetary policy, and essentially made this clear again on Wednesday for anyone who has been under a rock lately; the details are naturally interesting but the overall picture hardly changes as a result.
23 February 2022