Insights

ECB Insight: Continuity Appropriate; Lagarde to Stay the Course as June Objective Comes Within Reach

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – When European Central Bank Governing Council members of such disparate stripes as Austrian National Bank’s Robert Holzmann and De Nederlandsche Bank’s Klaas Knot on the hawkish side or Bank of Greece Governor Yannis Stournaras and Banco de España head Pablo Hernández de Cos on the dovish side all clearly expect the ECB to start loosening monetary policy in June, then a first rate cut in June should be everyone’s central scenario.

ECB Insight: Cipollone Follows in Predecessor’s Footsteps, Minimising Wage Concerns and Urging Faster Policy Loosening

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Executive Board member Piero Cipollone on Wednesday faithfully carried on the tradition of his predecessor with a speech intended above all to undermine the ECB’s unjustifiably timid approach to monetary easing.

ECB Insight: Lagarde Acknowledges Risk of Waiting Too Long, Reinforces June’s Pole Position

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde on Wednesday made it clearer yet that the ECB would before long, most probably in June, start easing its monetary policy stance, even in the absence of complete certainty about the choice of timing.

ECB Insight: Insiders See Data Deciding Frequency of Further Moves After First 25BP Cut In June

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – The European Central Bank Governing Council appears headed for a series of rate cuts of 25bp each, with the question of whether these cuts should only occur in conjunction with projection meetings still very much up in the air.

ECB’s Reinesch: Grounds to Expect First Rate Cut at End of 2Q if Data Confirm Forecasts

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – The European Central Bank is likely to start cutting interest rates at the end of the second quarter if the latest information are consistent with current forecasts, according to ECB Governing Council member Gaston Reinesch.

ECB Insight: Framework Announcement Tomorrow Likely to Signal Start of Transition Process

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – The European Central Bank is set to announce the outcome of its operational framework review on Wednesday, following a final meeting, held virtually, of the Governing Council.

ECB’s Makhlouf: Prefer Gradual Changes to Monetary Policy Stance

By Isabel Teles – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Gabriel Makhlouf on Saturday said that when the time came for the ECB to modify its monetary policy stance, gradual changes would be preferable.

ECB Insight: Lagarde Confirms That June Meeting the One to Watch: ‘We Will Know a Lot More in June’

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde on Thursday delivered a performance in line with the largest part of Governing Council members’ communication in recent weeks pointing to June as being the likeliest start of monetary policy easing.

ECB Insight: Marking Time

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Aside from a few outliers impatient for looser European Central Bank monetary policy (and a number favouring a particularly leisurely approach), it is apparent at this point that the Governing Council has its sights tentatively set on the June meeting as the most promising candidate for the first rate cut.

ECB Insight: Governing Council Tally Shows ‘Premature’ Camp Still Leading, but Not Overwhelmingly

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – A member-by-member review of the European Central Bank Governing Council with respect to the preference to tackle policy easing more or less slowly reveals that the camp of those continuing to see interest rate cuts as premature dominates, though the opposition has gained ground.

ECB Insight: Insider Thinking on the Operational Framework

ECB Insight: De Guindos Makes Clear That the ECB Remains Firmly in a Waiting Game

By David Barwick – SPLIT, Croatia (Econostream) – European Central Bank Vice President Luis de Guindos on Wednesday understatedly but resolutely discouraged very short-term rate cut expectations even as he recognised the progress in disinflation so far and voiced the anticipation that this would continue.

ECB Insight: De Cos, Whilst Shunning Calendar Guidance, Now Seems Open to Rate Cut Discussion

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Pablo Hernández de Cos’ reluctance to pin a date to the ECB’s first rate cut should not obscure the fact that he is now apparently supportive of discussing the issue rather than continuing to keep it at arm’s length.

ECB Insight: Schnabel Pushes Back Against Market Pricing, but Carefully, Slamming No Doors

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Executive Board member Isabel Schnabel in her latest comments managed to convey the impression that she did not envision the first ECB rate cut coming too soon whilst skirting the mention of any calendar month or particular timing.

CEEMEA TRANSCRIPT: Interview with Polish DMO Head Karol Czarnecki

By David Barwick – VIENNA (Econostream) – Following is the full transcript of the interview conducted by Econostream recently with Karol Czarnecki, Director of the Public Debt Department at the Polish Ministry of Finance.:

CEEMEA Exclusive: Polish DMO Head Czarnecki: Expect President Duda to Sign Budgetary Act

By David Barwick – VIENNA (Econostream) – Polish President Andrzej Duda will probably sign Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s budget, in the view of Karol Czarnecki, Director of the Public Debt Department at the Polish Ministry of Finance.

ECB Insight: Is Vujčić Leaning Slightly Towards April? His Comments Can Be So Understood

By David Barwick – ZAGREB (Econostream) – We interpret the comments made Tuesday by European Central Bank Governing Council member Boris Vujčić as potentially indicating, on balance, that he is leaning towards a first rate cut in April rather than June.

ECB Insight: Lagarde Delivers as Expected, Carefully Avoiding any Hints as More Data Awaited

 By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – The European Central Bank Governing Council’s monetary policy meeting on Thursday was more or less exactly as predicted by us in this space on Tuesday: uneventful, devoid of surprises, with the need for policy to stay restrictive reconfirmed and talk of rate cuts dismissed as premature.

ECB Insight: No Bolts out of the Blue This Week

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – We have a hard time imagining surprises emerging from this week’s European Central Bank Governing Council meeting, the stage having been so well set in the runup to the occasion.

ECB Insight: Lagarde, With a Little Help, Takes Another Misstep

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – It may well be that the European Central Bank will cut rates by the summer. We see this as being only just shy of a given, and that depends very little on the wiggle room in the words ‘by the summer’.