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ECB’s Panetta Warns Cross-Border Payments Inefficiencies Risk Fragmenting Global System; Calls for Coordinated Reform

ECB’s Panetta Warns Cross-Border Payments Inefficiencies Risk Fragmenting Global System; Calls for Coordinated Reform

By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Fabio Panetta said on Tuesday that inefficiencies in cross-border payments are becoming a broader test of whether the global economy can remain interconnected amid rising geopolitical tensions, while urging coordinated reforms at both global and national level.

5 May 2026 Central Bank News
France: AFT Allotted €8.194 Billion of BTFs as Demand Covered 3.9 Times

France: AFT Allotted €8.194 Billion of BTFs as Demand Covered 3.9 Times

By Laura Contemori – ROME (Econostream) – Agence France Trésor (AFT) issued €8.194 billion of fixed-rate discount Treasury bills (BTFs) on Monday, close to the top of its indicated €6.6 billion to €8.2 billion range, with bids covering the amount served about 3.9 times.

4 May 2026 Debt Issuance News
ECB’s Cipollone: Tokenized Markets Need Central Bank Money at Core

ECB’s Cipollone: Tokenized Markets Need Central Bank Money at Core

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Executive Board member Piero Cipollone said on Monday that tokenized financial markets needed central bank money in tokenized form at their core to preserve monetary policy effectiveness, financial stability and monetary sovereignty.

4 May 2026 Central Bank News
ECB’s Müller Says ECB Can Avoid Rushing on Rate Hikes

ECB’s Müller Says ECB Can Avoid Rushing on Rate Hikes

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Madis Müller said Monday that the ECB had scope not to rush decisions on raising interest rates, given that policy rates were now roughly neutral.

4 May 2026 Central Bank News
ECB’s Šimkus: June Rate Hike Likely, Direction “Sufficiently Obvious”

ECB’s Šimkus: June Rate Hike Likely, Direction “Sufficiently Obvious”

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Gediminas Šimkus said on Monday that the ECB was likely to raise interest rates in June, with the direction of the next move “sufficiently obvious” given higher inflation and increased inflation risks.

4 May 2026 Central Bank News
ECB Insight: De Guindos’ Praise for de Cos Keeps Getting Fainter

ECB Insight: De Guindos’ Praise for de Cos Keeps Getting Fainter

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Outgoing European Central Bank Vice President Luis de Guindos is not campaigning against former Banco de España Governor Pablo Hernández de Cos for the ECB presidency, but with each successive interview, he sounds less like someone actively supporting him.

4 May 2026 Central Bank News
ECB’s Kažimír: Policy Tightening in June “All But Inevitable”

ECB’s Kažimír: Policy Tightening in June “All But Inevitable”

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Peter Kažimír said on Monday that policy tightening in June was “all but inevitable”, given that events since March had not surprised the ECB positively.

4 May 2026 Central Bank News
ECB Corporate Telephone Survey: Shock Rapidly Affecting Prices in Energy-Dependent Sectors

ECB Corporate Telephone Survey: Shock Rapidly Affecting Prices in Energy-Dependent Sectors

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – The jump in oil prices caused by the Middle East war is rapidly feeding into prices in the most oil-dependent sectors of the Eurozone economy, though broader pass-through could be more gradual than in the past, according to the European Central Bank’s latest corporate telephone survey, released on Monday.

4 May 2026 Central Bank News
ECB Insight: June Is Live, and This Time May Be Different

ECB Insight: June Is Live, and This Time May Be Different

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Despite the weekend and the May 1 holiday in almost all euro area countries, a third of the European Central Bank’s Governing Council has spoken publicly since President Christine Lagarde’s press conference on Thursday. The message has come across: June is very live.

4 May 2026 Central Bank News
ECB’s Wunsch Says Europe Naive to Cling to Old Economic Order

ECB’s Wunsch Says Europe Naive to Cling to Old Economic Order

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Pierre Wunsch on Monday said Europe was naive if it continued to apply open-market and state-aid rules designed for a global economy that no longer existed.

4 May 2026 Central Bank News