By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – The European Central Bank’s latest Consumer Expectations Survey makes a hold by the Governing Council on Thursday a harder sell, but does not make a rate hike unavoidable.
28 April 2026 Central Bank News
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Eurozone consumers’ inflation expectations rose in March, including at the three-year horizon, while growth expectations worsened and expected unemployment increased, the European Central Bank said in its latest Consumer Expectations Survey, released Tuesday.
28 April 2026 Central Bank News
By Laura Contemori – ROME (Econostream) – The Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) allotted a total of €4.50 billion of Treasury bills (BOTs) on Tuesday across two maturities.
28 April 2026 Debt Issuance News
By Laura Contemori – ROME (Econostream) – The Dutch State Treasury Agency (DSTA) raised €1.31 billion through the reopening of its Dutch State Loan (DSL) 3.75% January 15, 2042 bond on Tuesday.
28 April 2026 Debt Issuance News
By Laura Contemori – ROME (Econostream) – Austria’s debt management agency, the OeBFA, allotted €2.0 billion of Austrian Treasury bills (ATBs) on Tuesday across two maturities, with bid-to-cover ratios of 1.80 and 1.88.
28 April 2026 Debt Issuance News
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – The European Central Bank’s latest SAFE survey, just released, does not compel a rate hike on Thursday but does make a relaxed hold harder to justify.
27 April 2026 Central Bank News
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Eurozone companies reported tighter bank lending conditions and a marked rise in short-term inflation expectations in the first quarter of 2026, the European Central Bank said Monday.
27 April 2026 Central Bank News
By Laura Contemori – ROME (Econostream) – The Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Lithuania allotted €45 million in a tap of its euro-denominated government bond maturing January 22, 2031 on Monday.
27 April 2026 Debt Issuance News
By Laura Contemori – ROME (Econostream) – The Belgian Debt Agency issued a total of €2.995 billion of linear ordinary bonds (OLOs) on Monday across three maturities, close to the top of its indicated €2.6 billion to €3.0 billion range.
27 April 2026 Debt Issuance News
By Laura Contemori – ROME (Econostream) - Agence France Trésor (AFT) issued a total of €8.045 billion of fixed-rate discount Treasury bills (BTFs) on Monday across four maturities, with demand about 3.5 times the amount served.
27 April 2026 Debt Issuance News
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Peter Kažimír said Friday that the policy discussion had shifted markedly in recent months, with talk of a possible rate cut now replaced by debate over whether a modest increase may eventually be needed.
24 April 2026 Central Bank News
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – Econostream’s ECB Tone Meter continued to decline this week, building on last week’s reversal from earlier hawkish levels. The Governing Council index has now slipped back into neutral territory, sitting just below the threshold that would signal a slightly hawkish stance.
24 April 2026 Central Bank News
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – Following is a collection of views expressed by ECB Governing Council members on various topics of high relevance related to next week’s meeting and the further evolution of monetary policy.
24 April 2026 Central Bank News
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Joachim Nagel said political attacks on central bank independence ultimately backfire, arguing that recent pressure on the Federal Reserve had triggered a flight from US assets and the dollar rather than delivering any durable policy gain.
23 April 2026 Central Bank News
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde on Wednesday said that the countries of Europe needed to join forces financially to meet the costly challenges it faces.
22 April 2026 Central Bank News
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Joachim Nagel on Wednesday argued that the digital euro had become a political project aimed at strengthening Europe’s sovereignty in payments, saying the bloc could no longer afford heavy reliance on non-European providers in such a critical area.
22 April 2026 Central Bank News
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Gediminas Šimkus said on Wednesday that the ECB should refrain from raising interest rates at the April 30 Governing Council meeting.
22 April 2026 Central Bank News
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – European Central Bank Chief Economist Philip Lane said on Wednesday that the ECB cannot yet determine whether the Middle East conflict will be a temporary shock or a more persistent one until its duration becomes clear.
22 April 2026 Central Bank News
By David Barwick and Marta Vilar – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – The European Central Bank did not abruptly take an April 30 rate hike off the table. Instead, starting in late March and gathering pace by mid-April, policymakers increasingly stopped preparing markets for action at the next meeting and started buying time. April remained formally live, but messaging pointed more and more clearly toward June as the meeting at which the Governing Council expected to know enough to judge whether the Iran shock was merely painful or genuinely inflationary in the medium term.
22 April 2026 Central Bank News
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Yannis Stournaras said Wednesday that the ECB should hold off on raising interest rates for now, adding that he believes the Middle East conflict could end soon.
22 April 2026 Central Bank News