Free Trial

Latest News

ECB Insight: How Lagarde Can Make a Hold Sound Hawkish (and Why She Should)

ECB Insight: How Lagarde Can Make a Hold Sound Hawkish (and Why She Should)

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – The European Central Bank does not need to feel obliged by markets on Thursday into explicitly validating June rate hike expectations, let alone a 50bp move. But after the latest inflation expectations data and Tuesday’s market reaction, a dovish tone from ECB President Christine Lagarde would fit the moment poorly, even if sounding overly hawkish would also carry risks.

29 April 2026 Central Bank News
ECB Insight: No Shooting From the Hip

ECB Insight: No Shooting From the Hip

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Over the last month, the European Central Bank has laid the groundwork for a hold at this week’s Governing Council monetary policy meeting. If the three key last-minute data points—namely euro area GDP and inflation as well as the ECB’s corporate telephone survey—do not deliver a major surprise, then a unanimous hold on Thursday still looks like the most likely outcome.

28 April 2026 Central Bank News
Why the ECB’s Hawkish Turn Has Faded — as Seen in Our ECB Tone Meter

Why the ECB’s Hawkish Turn Has Faded — as Seen in Our ECB Tone Meter

By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – The European Central Bank lagged markets in turning hawkish after the Middle East conflict began and is already retreating from that stance, even as investors continue to price in two rate hikes for 2026, having only recently dropped expectations of an April move. This shift is clearly reflected in Econostream’s ECB Tone Meter and we explain it in this piece.

28 April 2026 Central Bank News
ECB Survey Shows Consumer Inflation Expectations Rose in March

ECB Survey Shows Consumer Inflation Expectations Rose in March

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
ECB’s Nagel: Attacks on Central Bank Independence “Backfire”

ECB’s Nagel: Attacks on Central Bank Independence “Backfire”

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
ECB’s Nagel: Digital Euro Would Strengthen Europe’s “Strategic Autonomy”

ECB’s Nagel: Digital Euro Would Strengthen Europe’s “Strategic Autonomy”

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
ECB Insight: How the ECB’s April Hike Talk Gave Way to June

ECB Insight: How the ECB’s April Hike Talk Gave Way to June

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
ECB’s Elderson: ECB Climate Work Is Mandate-Driven, Not Politics

ECB’s Elderson: ECB Climate Work Is Mandate-Driven, Not Politics

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Executive Board member Frank Elderson defended the ECB’s climate-related work on Wednesday as a necessary part of its mandate, arguing that price stability, financial stability, and bank resilience cannot be safeguarded if policymakers ignore the economic effects of climate and nature shocks.

22 April 2026 Central Bank News
ECB’s Lane: Euro Area Has “Undersupply” of Safe Assets

ECB’s Lane: Euro Area Has “Undersupply” of Safe Assets

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Chief Economist Philip Lane on Wednesday argued that the Eurozone suffers from an “undersupply of euro-denominated safe assets,” calling for a larger stock of common debt and other instruments that could deepen market liquidity, strengthen financial stability, and reinforce the euro’s international role.

22 April 2026 Central Bank News
ECB’s Kazāks: “We Are Not in a Rush” on Rates

ECB’s Kazāks: “We Are Not in a Rush” on Rates

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Mārtiņš Kazāks on Wednesday said the ECB was under no immediate pressure to raise interest rates, arguing that inflation expectations remained contained and that spillovers from higher energy prices had so far been limited.

22 April 2026 Central Bank News