By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – The Insight we published on April 1 argued that European Central Bank Governing Council communication had lately grown distinctly more tentative. Austrian National Bank Governor Martin Kocher’s Politico interview on April 2 lets us make the point more plainly: as things stand today, the burden of proof at the April meeting lies with a hike, not a hold.
7 April 2026 Central Bank News
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Yannis Stournaras said on Monday that the ECB would have to consider a tighter monetary policy stance if Middle East-related energy shocks proved persistent enough to affect medium-term inflation expectations and wages.
6 April 2026 Central Bank News
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Olaf Sleijpen said in a podcast aired Saturday that the amount of new data available by the ECB’s April 30 policy meeting would be limited.
4 April 2026 Central Bank News
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Dimitar Radev warned on Friday that a prolonged external shock starting in energy could spread more broadly through the economy, with implications for monetary conditions as well as for businesses.
3 April 2026 Central Bank News
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member François Villeroy de Galhau said on Thursday that it was too early to predict the timing of any ECB rate increase, but that the next move in rates was likely to be upward.
2 April 2026 Central Bank News
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Martin Kocher on Thursday said that if the situation in the Middle East continued for a while, it was clear that the ECB’s monetary policy stance would be affected.
2 April 2026 Central Bank News
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – Econostream’s ECB Tone Meter continued to rise this week, albeit at a slower pace than last week, remaining in slightly hawkish territory for both the Governing Council and the Executive Board.
2 April 2026 Central Bank News
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – Following is a collection of views expressed by ECB Governing Council members on the Middle East conflict and its implications for monetary policy following the Governing Council meeting on 19 March:
2 April 2026 Central Bank News
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Gediminas Šimkus on Thursday cautioned against drawing early conclusions about whether the ECB would need to act at its April meeting in response to the Iran shock.
2 April 2026 Central Bank News
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Fabio Panetta said on Thursday that the ECB’s adverse and severe scenarios linked to the Middle East conflict now appear more likely than when they were originally published.
2 April 2026 Central Bank News
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Former German finance minister Jörg Kukies is joining Morgan Stanley, returning to the banking sector after years in senior public office. He is to start in London in May and move to Frankfurt in November to become Country Head for Germany and Austria as well as CEO and Chairman of the Management Boards of Morgan Stanley Europe SE Group.
1 April 2026 Central Bank News
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Since the European Central Bank’s March 19 meeting, Governing Council members have plainly worked to keep April 30 live. So much is clear. Less clear is whether policymakers are doing much to prepare the ground for such a move.
1 April 2026 Central Bank News
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Gabriel Makhlouf said on Wednesday that the uncertainty created by the Middle East conflict warranted caution and that the ECB should remain on a meeting-by-meeting footing.
1 April 2026 Central Bank News
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Yannis Stournaras said on Wednesday that if oil prices surged to over USD 150 per barrel, the European economy could enter a recession.
1 April 2026 Central Bank News
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Primož Dolenc on Wednesday said that the ECB’s adverse scenario was more likely than the baseline to become the euro area’s next baseline.
1 April 2026 Central Bank News
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Executive Board member Piero Cipollone on Wednesday said the digital euro could help ensure Europe’s “resilience and autonomy in payments” in what he called a “fragmenting world.”
1 April 2026 Central Bank News
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Olli Rehn said Tuesday that a rate hike was “not guaranteed” after the latest euro-area inflation reading, adding that the figure was “expected” and that policymakers remained focused on the medium-term inflation outlook.
31 March 2026 Central Bank News
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – Fabio Panetta, usually one of the European Central Bank Governing Council’s more dovish voices (see our Hawk-Dove ranking ), on Tuesday gave his first comments on the Middle East conflict in terms that were less dovish than those of some peers, even if he still stopped well short of backing hikes.
31 March 2026 Central Bank News
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Pierre Wunsch on Tuesday warned against broad support measures to shield households from the Iran-driven energy shock, arguing that such steps would amount to “pouring oil on the fire.”
31 March 2026 Central Bank News
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Boris Vujčić said on Tuesday that the increase in inflation expectations was unsurprising and a prolonged conflict in Iran would have a greater impact on inflation.
31 March 2026 Central Bank News