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.
19 January 2023
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.
17 January 2023
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.
16 January 2023
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.
13 December 2022
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.
6 December 2022
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.
1 December 2022
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.
28 November 2022
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Klaas Knot’s comments on Friday suggest that he may be backing down from his earlier enthusiasm for the possibility of a renewed 75bp rate hike in December.
21 November 2022
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – As the public discussion of the European Central Bank’s approach to quantitative tightening heats up, one can venture some guesses about what will materialise, based on Governing Council members’ contributions to that discussion.
21 November 2022
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – To the reasonably complete compendium published here last Thursday of recent public comments by European Central Bank Governing Council members touching on the subject of quantitative tightening, we have added remarks made on Friday.
21 November 2022
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – The speech made Friday afternoon by European Central Bank Governing Council member Joachim Nagel ultimately offered little to guide ECB watchers.
18 November 2022
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Comments made by European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde on Friday effectively excluded a full-throated initial approach to unwinding the ECB’s balance sheet.
18 November 2022
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – We have assembled below a reasonably complete compendium of all recent public comments by European Central Bank Governing Council members touching on the subject of quantitative tightening, favouring direct quotes where possible.
17 November 2022
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – In a speech in Tokyo on Tuesday, European Central Bank Governing Council member François Villeroy de Galhau cautioned observers of ECB monetary policy against expecting ‘jumbo rate hikes’ to become a habit.
15 November 2022
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Two days ago, we argued here that it seemed pointless to debate whether the European Central Bank’s communication has been setting the stage for what some call a pivot, so obvious has it been.
11 November 2022
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Whether or not the European Central Bank executes a monetary policy pivot as early as December, it seems hardly a matter of debate that its communication has already been laying the groundwork for one to come sooner or later.
9 November 2022
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde on Tuesday repeated with no obviously significant deviation the main messages of last Thursday’s post-Council meeting press conference, promising despite risen recessionary risks further rate hikes based on a meeting-by-meeting approach.
1 November 2022
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Just days after the European Central Bank Governing Council decided to hike interest rates by a whopping 75bp for the second time in a row, one of its leading hawks, Klaas Knot, has positioned himself as leaning in the direction of a third such outsize step. He may be getting ahead of himself.
31 October 2022