Insights

ECB Insight: Growing Dissension, SVB Fallout Make Retreat to Data-Dependence More Attractive

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – In considering what this week’s meeting of the European Central Bank Governing Council will bring, we start from the observations that a 50bp hike this week across the board is probably a given despite the Silicon Valley Bank insolvency, putting the spotlight on the post-March policy outlook, and that the Council is showing signs of increasing polarisation.

ECB Insight: Comments by Centeno Underscore Obstacles to Large Rate Hikes Post-March

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Past the habitual dovishness, other, at first glance less substantive comments published Monday in an interview with European Central Bank Governing Council member Mário Centeno may actually offer the more interesting insight into the challenge the ECB will face in maintaining the current pace of monetary tightening beyond March.

ECB Insight: Post-Finland Comments Cast Doubt on a Slowdown of the Pace of Hiking in May

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Observers of European Central Bank monetary policy would be well advised to pay heed to the comments of Governing Council members since last week’s non-monetary policy meeting, as they leave open policy option doors that under other circumstances might have now been closing.

ECB Insight: Monetary Policy Very Much on the Mind in Northern Finland

- ECB’s Kazāks: Council retreat occasion to align our views, express our worries and perspectives
- ECB’s Kazāks: ‘The meeting in Finland will prepare us for policy decisions going forward’

ECB Hawk-Dove Ranking: Vujčić Ranked as Mildly Hawkish

ECB Insight: de Cos Sets the Stage for Worrying Not Just About Risk of Doing Too Little

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Pablo Hernández de Cos’ latest remarks are a reminder that the ECB is not going to hike by 50bp forever and that March, whilst probably not the time to decelerate, could be the right moment for authorities to start giving more consideration to the increasing risks of doing too much too fast.

ECB Insight: Once Again, the Governing Council Has an Intention

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Not for the first time at the European Central Bank, monetary policy has come down to a matter of how much an intention is worth, but with the significant difference that on this occasion, President Christine Lagarde made an earnest effort to address this question, even if the attempt raised yet more questions.

ECB Hawk-Dove Ranking: Lagarde, Lane and other Governing Council Members Reranked

ECB’s Governing Council Likely Still Inclined to Hike Significantly at a Steady Pace

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Rare is the European Central Bank Governing Council meeting devoid of suspense, and although the primary outcome of this week’s gathering – a 50bp hike of all key interest rates – seems a foregone conclusion, what kind of stage President Christine Lagarde will set for the subsequent meeting is well worth speculating about.

ECB’s Villeroy: Will Hike as Needed to Restore Price Stability; Won’t Lead to Recession

- Villeroy: Will continue to raise rates, perhaps at slightly slower pace than in recent months
- Villeroy: ‘Economic activity in Europe is rather resilient and better than expected’
- Villeroy: Expect inflation to be back down to 2% by the end of 2024 or 2025
- Villeroy: Hope inflation now at peak, but in any case will be there in 1H and then decline steadily

ECB’s Nagel: Expect Euro Area Inflation to Be Back at 2% End-2024, 2025

- Nagel: We will restore price stability without causing recession
- Nagel: Don’t notice monetary policy differences between Germany and France

ECB Insight: Jockeying of Hawks Only Underscores Growing Likelihood of Council Rift

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – The new year does not appear to have brought any change in European Central Bank Governing Council hawks’ ability to dominate the public discourse, even if their recent comments don’t offer policy insight as much as they reflect the risen probability of a greater split in the ranks down the road.

ECB Insight: Lane Got it ‘Fundamentally’ Right, Or So He Says

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – How satisfying to look back at an extraordinarily challenging time and be able to confirm that even a pea soup fog of uncertainty didn’t prevent one from acting unerringly. That’s the fortuitous position European Central Bank Executive Board member Philip Lane appears to be in, based on his interview Tuesday with the Financial Times.

ECB Insight: Rehn Sounds Hawkish, But Not Unreservedly So

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – At first glance, European Central Bank Governing Council member Olli Rehn’s comments on Monday appear to be hawkish. On a second look, a degree of reservation stands out.

ECB Hawk-Dove Ranking: Croatia’s Vujčić Joins Governing Council

Seeking Compromise on a Rate Hike, But Can Progress on QT Help the ECB Get There?

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Econostream continues to expect the outcome of this week’s European Central Bank Governing Council meeting to be a 50bp rate hike, a view we’ve held more or less since 28 October, when President Christine Lagarde clearly set the stage for a deceleration of the tightening pace.

ECB Insight: Lane Retreats to Safer Ground on Question of December Rate Hike Size

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Strictly speaking, European Central Bank Chief Economist Philip Lane cannot be said to have walked back his previous interview in the one published on Tuesday. But what might appear at first glance to have been doubling down was in fact decidedly more cautious in tone and scope than last month.

ECB Hawk-Dove Ranking

ECB Insight: Lagarde, Perhaps Wary of Growing Council Divergence, Seeks Tighter Control over NCB Communications

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde is seeking to reinforce the existing ECB communications policy applicable to top Eurosystem officials, according to insiders who spoke to Econostream recently.

ECB Insight: Lagarde Unmistakably Hawkish; ‘It Would Surprise Me’ if Inflation Already at Its Peak

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde on Monday showed herself from her hawkish side, making it considerably less clear whether the Governing Council would really temper its pace of rate hiking as soon as next month, but also raising the question of how bold forthcoming quantitative tightening decisions will turn out.