By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde on Wednesday said Europe’s leaders had to act on former ECB President Mario Draghi’s diagnosis of the bloc’s weaknesses, warning that Europe’s unfinished institutional architecture was being tested by a harsher global environment.
13 May 2026 Central Bank News
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Executive Board member Philip Lane on Wednesday said an energy-driven inflation overshoot that proved material and persistent could require a monetary policy response, while saying current evidence still showed limited broader effects from the Middle East shock.
13 May 2026 Central Bank News
By Laura Contemori – ROME (Econostream) – The Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) allotted an additional €1 billion of Treasury bills (BOTs) on Wednesday through supplementary auctions reserved for specialist dealers, according to results published by the Bank of Italy.
13 May 2026 Debt Issuance News
By Laura Contemori – ROME (Econostream) – The Belgian Debt Agency (BDA) said on Wednesday that it had raised €8 billion on Tuesday through the syndication of a new five-year OLO maturing August 22, 2031.
13 May 2026 Debt Issuance News
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Madis Müller said on Wednesday that for the ECB to avoid hiking interest rates, the Strait of Hormuz would have to be opened quickly.
13 May 2026 Central Bank News
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Primož Dolenc said Wednesday that higher energy prices had so far had only limited indirect effects on the broader economy, but warned that the Middle East conflict could still push up inflation expectations and consumer prices.
13 May 2026 Central Bank News
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – We wouldn’t claim that European Central Bank Governing Council member Martin Kocher sounded on balance like a dove in our just-published interview with him, but to the extent he reflects the current thinking of Council hawks, the case for a June hike may still hang in the balance.
13 May 2026 Central Bank News
By Laura Contemori – ROME (Econostream) – The German Finance Agency (Finanzagentur) allotted a combined €2.125 billion in reopened Federal bonds (Bunds) on Wednesday across two long-dated maturities.
13 May 2026 Debt Issuance News
By Laura Contemori – ROME (Econostream) – Portugal’s Treasury and Public Debt Management Agency (IGCP) allotted a combined €1.426 billion in government bond (OT) auctions on Wednesday across two maturities.
13 May 2026 Debt Issuance News
By David Barwick and Marta Vilar – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Following is the transcript of the interview conducted by Econostream on 11 May 2026 with Martin Kocher, Governor of the Austrian National Bank and member of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank:
13 May 2026 Central Bank News
By Marta Vilar and David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – A European Central Bank interest rate hike should not be considered the baseline for June, although keeping rates unchanged through year-end would be difficult if price developments failed to improve, according to ECB Governing Council member Martin Kocher.
13 May 2026 Central Bank News
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member François Villeroy de Galhau said on Wednesday that the ECB must be ready to act in order to prevent second-round inflation effects.
13 May 2026 Central Bank News
By Laura Contemori – ROME (Econostream) – The Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) allotted a combined €7.5 billion of multi-year Treasury bonds (BTPs) on Wednesday across three maturities, according to results published by the Bank of Italy.
13 May 2026 Debt Issuance News
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Olli Rehn said on Wednesday that the ECB should not base monetary policy on oil prices alone, but instead assess whether the energy shock spreads to inflation expectations, wages and underlying inflation.
13 May 2026 Central Bank News
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Executive Board member Frank Elderson said Wednesday that Europe’s banks were being held back mainly by the lack of a genuinely unified banking market, rather than by prudential rules.
13 May 2026 Central Bank News
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Joachim Nagel said on Tuesday that “interest rate hikes will become increasingly likely” if the inflation outlook does not improve significantly.
12 May 2026 Central Bank News
By Laura Contemori – ROME (Econostream) – The UK Debt Management Office (DMO) allotted £4.0 billion of 4⅛% Treasury Gilt 2031 at an auction on Tuesday.
12 May 2026 Debt Issuance News
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Alexander Demarco said Tuesday that the ECB’s ability to look through the latest oil shock was weakening as the Middle East conflict drags on and energy prices remain elevated.
12 May 2026 Central Bank News
By Laura Contemori – ROME (Econostream) – The Belgian Debt Agency allotted a combined €3.382 billion of Treasury certificates on Tuesday across two maturities.
12 May 2026 Debt Issuance News
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Executive Board member Frank Elderson on Tuesday said Europe’s banking sector was held back by fragmented markets rather than excessive regulation, calling for faster progress on the banking union, capital markets integration and the Single Market.
12 May 2026 Central Bank News