By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde on Monday used a Washington speech to defend the ECB’s policy independence and crisis-response speed while arguing that Europe is moving toward a more domestic-demand-led growth model that could support stronger long-term expansion.
23 February 2026
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – Following is the full transcript of the interview conducted by Econostream on 20 February 2026 with Marjan Divjak, Director General of the Treasury Directorate of Slovenia’s Ministry of Finance:
23 February 2026
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – Slovenia expects to issue a Panda bond this year in the range of RMB2–4 billion, with March 2026 seen as the earliest possible window, though final timing will depend on market conditions, according to Marjan Divjak, Director General of the Treasury Directorate of Slovenia’s Ministry of Finance.
23 February 2026
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – By now, one thing is clear: European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde wants to at least preserve the option of leaving her post early.
23 February 2026
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde on Sunday sought to tamp down speculation that she could leave office before her term ends, repeating her earlier line that “my baseline is that it will take until the end of my term.”
22 February 2026
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Fabio Panetta on Saturday said euro area inflation is expected to stabilize around the 2% target over the medium term, while warning that both upside and downside risks remain significant.
21 February 2026
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) Econostream’s ECB Tone Meter showed the Governing Council turning marginally dovish this week, while the Executive Board was little changed and remained mildly hawkish.
20 February 2026
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde on Friday provided for the record what should have been the sentence to end the early resignation saga: “So my baseline is that it will take until the end of my term.”
20 February 2026
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Malta is small, and Alexander Demarco is new enough as a European Central Bank Governing Council member that markets might overlook him. That would be a mistake.
20 February 2026
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – Following is the full transcript of the interview conducted by Econostream on 18 February 2026 with Dimitris Tsakonas, Director General of the Greek Public Debt Management Agency:
20 February 2026
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – Greece is highly likely to conduct another syndicated bond deal in 2026, though it has not yet decided whether it would involve launching a new benchmark or reopening an existing line, according to Dimitris Tsakonas, Director General of the Greek Public Debt Management Agency (PDMA).
20 February 2026
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said that the ECB had to consolidate all the achievements it had accomplished, adding that her “baseline” was that it would take until the end of her term.
20 February 2026
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde on Friday warned that the unraveling of the postwar international legal and economic order risked accelerating retaliation and trade fragmentation, citing estimates that severe fragmentation could cut global output by as much as 7% and by up to 12% in some countries if technological decoupling were added.
20 February 2026
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Yannis Stournaras said in a Politico interview published Thursday that inflation was set to converge to the 2% target over the medium term and that the euro area economy “remains in a good place.”
19 February 2026
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Executive Board member Piero Cipollone on Thursday pressed the case for a digital euro, arguing that it would preserve access to public money as payments move online and reduce reliance on non-European payment providers.
19 February 2026
By Marta Vilar – VALENCIA, Spain (Econostream) – European Central Bank Vice President Luis de Guindos said on Thursday that he had received no indication that ECB President Christine Lagarde plans to leave her post early, stressing that she remains fully committed to her role.
19 February 2026
By Marta Vilar – VALENCIA, Spain (Econostream) – European Central Bank Vice President Luis de Guindos said on Thursday that risks to the outlook were balanced, and geopolitical tensions were the main source of uncertainty.
19 February 2026
By Marta Vilar and David Barwick – VALLETTA (Econostream) - Following is the full transcript of the interview conducted by Econostream on 16 February with Alexander Demarco, Governor of the Central Bank of Malta and member of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank:
19 February 2026
By David Barwick and Marta Vilar – VALLETTA (Econostream) – If downside surprises led to a medium-term inflation outlook in the euro area below the European Central Bank’s 2% target, this could argue for another rate cut, according to ECB Governing Council member Alexander Demarco.
19 February 2026
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – The Bundesbank said in its February monthly report published Thursday that the euro area economy was likely to expand again at a moderate pace in early 2026, with activity supported by consumption and investment even as trade headwinds and euro strength weigh on exports.
19 February 2026