By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Executive Board member Piero Cipollone's latest message is as striking for its tone as for its content. The Italian policymaker, generally seen as part of the Governing Council’s more dovish contingent, struck an unexpectedly upbeat note on growth and offered no hint of encouragement to those hoping for easier policy.
24 September 2025
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – The deluge of recent European Central Bank communication suggests a Governing Council still largely comfortable with its current stance, even as a few members leave the door ajar for more easing. The pattern emerging from speeches and interviews over the past days is less about fundamentally new perspectives than about positioning, nuance and subtle divergences on risks.
23 September 2025
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) — European Central Bank Vice President Luis de Guindos’ comments today shouldn’t be mistaken for a rubber stamp on an extended pause. While he dutifully called current rates “appropriate”, that is pure boilerplate after a decision taken less than a week ago. The substance of his remarks was noticeably more dovish.
17 September 2025
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – It’s still possible to believe the European Central Bank’s Governing Council could cut rates again this year — if one expects the environment to change enough to make next year’s undershooting of the target look less transitory.
16 September 2025
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Prominent doves on the European Central Bank’s Governing Council were at pains on Friday to breathe new life into the now somewhat moribund idea that the ECB might cut interest rates again soon.
12 September 2025
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde on Thursday set the stage for ECB interest rates to persist at 2% into 2026 amid a somewhat brighter economic outlook, while nonetheless refusing to foreclose on any option.
11 September 2025
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Thursday’s European Central Bank interest rate decision holds very little suspense, not one Governing Council member having openly questioned the wait-and-see mode for the moment. The real question is whether December brings another cut.
9 September 2025
- Our call (part 1): Rehn to succeed de Guindos as VP, but gender politics loom
8 September 2025
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – In contrast to comments of European Central Bank Governing Council member Mārtiņš Kazāks published earlier Friday, subsequent interventions today by his French and Finnish counterparts – François Villeroy de Galhau and Olli Rehn – added little new insight into the current ECB policy outlook.
25 July 2025
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – In our 6 June interview , European Central Bank Governing Council member Mārtiņš Kazāks appeared to envisage not just one, but at least two more rate cuts. His comments today make clear that this is no longer the case, and strongly support scepticism that there will be further easing seven weeks from now.
25 July 2025
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde struck a somewhat hawkish tone on Thursday, pointing to better-than-expected economic data, dismissing fears of undershooting, and repeatedly declining to encourage expectations of further easing.
24 July 2025
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Our starting point in considering where the European Central Bank now stands is that we assign only limited weight to US President Donald Trump’s 12 July announcement.
22 July 2025
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – With the question of Mário Centeno’s future at Banco de Portugal seemingly close to resolution, a new possibility looms: could he be headed for an even higher post on the ECB’s Executive Board?
21 July 2025
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Amid intense debate over monetary easing, the European Central Bank is in the midst of another shift: a wave of Governing Council turnover. At least two—more likely four to six—new members will join by 2026, with potential implications for policy dynamics.
17 July 2025
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – With just days to go before Mário Centeno’s term as Banco de Portugal governor officially ends, the government has yet to name a successor – a delay that makes it increasingly likely he will remain in place for next week’s ECB Governing Council meeting, and possibly even the one in September.
15 July 2025
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – With less than a year until the next expected vacancy on the European Central Bank’s Executive Board—Vice President Luis de Guindos is due to depart at the end of May 2026— sets off a new round of openings, we continue our examination of policymakers with a credible shot not only at joining the Board, but at leading it.
14 July 2025
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – We wrote in this space on 27 June that it was ‘appropriate to view a September cut — never a certainty — with less confidence than may have seemed justified three weeks ago.’ If at the time we tended to incline toward the view that the September cut could simply be delayed, we must now wonder whether there will be any further easing at all.
11 July 2025
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – With less than a year to go until the next anticipated vacancy on the European Central Bank’s Executive Board—Vice President Luis de Guindos is set to depart at the end of May 2026—we consider it timely to examine some of the policymakers regarded as potential Board candidates.
7 July 2025
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Today, we undertake another member-by-member review of the European Central Bank Governing Council, this time with respect to the likelihood of support for a rate cut in September.
4 July 2025
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – With less than a year to go until the next anticipated vacancy on the European Central Bank’s Executive Board—Vice President Luis de Guindos is set to depart at the end of May 2026—we continue our examination of some of the policymakers regarded as potential Board candidates.
30 June 2025