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ECB’s Nagel: Risen Inflation Expectations ‘Worrisome’; ‘Must Not Respond with Too Little, Too Late’

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Increased inflation expectations are cause for concern and monetary authorities must not react insufficiently or hesitantly, European Central Bank Governing Council member Joachim Nagel said on Thursday.

ECB: Price Pressures Intensifying; Looking Ahead, Wage Developments Key

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Price pressures have become yet broader and yet more intense, the European Central Bank said on Thursday.

ECB: Stagflation Relatively Unlikely Now as Compared to 1970s; Experts See Risk as Low

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – The present economic situation is different from that of the 1970s in respects that make stagflation currently less likely, and experts accordingly see little risk of stagflation in the euro area, the European Central Bank said on Wednesday.

ECB’s Villeroy: France Can Expect Positive Growth and Lower Inflation

By David Barwick – PARIS (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member François Villeroy de Galhau on Wednesday said that the French economy could expect positive growth in this and the coming years, along with more subdued medium-term inflation.

ECB: New Measure of Domestic EMU Inflation Shows Domestic Price Pressures Rising

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – A new measure of domestic euro area inflation indicates that domestic price pressures have been on the rise over the past year and in the years just before the pandemic, the European Central Bank said on Tuesday.

ECB: Futures Curves Suggest Energy Inflation to Decline in 2023, But Uncertainty Very High

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Futures curves indicate that energy inflation should subside next year, but any scenario is subject to great uncertainty, the European Central Bank said on Tuesday.

ECB’s Lagarde Repeats 25bp Hike in July with Potential for Larger Move in September

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde on Monday reiterated ECB’s intention to hike interest rates in July by 25 basis points and then to take a potentially larger step in September depending on the inflation outlook.

Bundesbank Sees Slight 2Q German Economic Growth; Inflation Likely to Remain High Coming Months

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – German consumer price growth will probably remain high over the next few months and average about 7% for the entire year, the German Bundesbank said on Monday in its latest monthly report.

ECB: Ukrainian Refugees Could Slightly Ease Euro Area Labour Market Tightness

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – The influx of Ukrainian refugees due to Russia’s war of aggression against its neighbour has the potential to slightly ease euro area labour market tightness, but the ultimate impact cannot currently be forecast with much reliability, the European Central Bank said on Monday.

ECB’s Stournaras: New Tool Under Consideration to Deal with Fragmentation

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – The European Central Bank is considering a new instrument to counter the episodes of fragmentation likely to occur in Europe, ECB Governing Council member Yannis Stournaras said Monday.

ECB’s Rehn: ECB Firmly Committed to Contain Unwarranted Fragmentation

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – The European Central Bank is firmly committed to keeping unwarranted fragmentation from interfering with the transmission of its monetary policy, Governing Council member Olli Rehn said on Saturday.

ECB Insight: No Panic at the Eurotower, But Not Much Else Yet, Either

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – The statement from the European Central Bank after Wednesday’s ad hoc meeting of the Governing Council suggests an enduring reluctance on the part of monetary authorities to tackle the creation of a new anti-fragmentation instrument.

Exclusive: ECB Insider: When You Develop an Anti-Fragmentation Tool, It Means You’re Afraid

Exclusive: ECB Insider: When You Develop an Anti-Fragmentation Tool, It Means You’re Afraid
- ECB insider: Would be good to have an anti-fragmentation tool, but there are also risks to this
- ECB insider: Issues of communication make us ‘not that much inclined to work on that instrument’
- ECB insider: PEPP framework can always be renamed and employed as an anti-fragmentation tool

ECB Insight: Schnabel Sounds Tough on Fragmentation, But Words May Not Be Enough

By David Barwick – PARIS (Econostream) – As determined as European Central Bank Executive Board member Isabel Schnabel is to prevent fragmentation from derailing the ECB’s incipient policy normalisation, it is considerably more questionable whether her verbal intervention on Tuesday evening will achieve the desired effect on any sustained basis.

ECB’s Schnabel: Our Commitment to the Euro is our Anti-Fragmentation Tool and Has No Limits

By David Barwick – PARIS (Econostream) – The European Central Bank’s unlimited commitment to the euro implies that fragmentation will not be allowed to hamper monetary policy transmission, ECB Executive Board member Isabel Schnabel said Tuesday.

They Said it - Recent Monetary Policy Comments Made by ECB Governing Council Members

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – The following is a reasonably complete compendium of the most recent comments made by European Central Bank Governing Council members with respect to monetary policy. Updates are made on a periodic basis.

Exclusive: QT Not a ‘Current Issue’ as ECB Starts Hiking, But Need to Prepare Already Talked About

- ECB insider: ‘There are views that we need to start more general discussions’ about QT
- ECB insider: ‘Time to start talking now for [QT] decisions to be ready sometime later in the future’

Exclusive: ECB Governing Council Discussed Neither the Neutral Rate nor the Terminal Rate

- ECB insider: ‘One day we will approach’ topic of neutral rate, but now dealing with hiking
- ECB insider: ‘Very broad and diverging views’ on where neutral rate stands
- ECB insider: Lagarde said, ‘We may have different views, but today we need to take a decision’

ECB Hawk-Dove Ranking

ECB Insight: Exchange Rate Played No Role Thursday, Econostream Understands

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Absent from both European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde’s monetary policy statement and the entire subsequent press conference on Thursday was any mention of exchange rate developments.