News

ECB Insight: Vozpópuli’s de Cos Report Looks More Like Positioning Than Decision

By David Barwick and Marta Vilar – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Wednesday’s report from Spanish news outlet Vozpópuli on former European Central Bank Governing Council member Pablo Hernández de Cos is more convincing than the outlet’s attempt a month ago to portray the ECB as already opening the door to him. Even so, the new piece still looks less like confirmation of a Spanish decision than an effort to shape the conversation around one.

26 February 2026

ECB’s Vujčić Clears Governing Council Hurdle for ECB Vice Presidency

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Boris Vujčić on Wednesday cleared a key procedural step toward becoming the next vice president of the ECB after the Governing Council said it had “no objection” to his nomination.

25 February 2026

ECB’s Vujčić: “The Less We Discuss TPI, the More Effective It Is”

By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Boris Vujčić said on Wednesday that the ECB's Transmission Protection Instrument (TPI) works best when it is discussed less.

25 February 2026

ECB’s Vujčić: Inflation on Target, Yet “No Room for Complacency” Given Economic and Geopolitical Environment

By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Boris Vujčić said on Wednesday that euro area inflation was back at the medium-term target of 2%, but that the ECB could not be complacent given the current environment.

25 February 2026

ECB’s Lagarde: “I Very Strongly Believe That We Are in That Good Place”

By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said on Monday that she “very strongly” believed the ECB was in a good place and that it should be “agile.”

23 February 2026

ECB’s Lagarde Says Europe Can Shift to Domestic-Led Growth, Defends ECB’s Speed and Independence

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

Transcript: Interview with Slovenian DMO Director General Marjan Divjak 20 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

Exclusive: Slovenian DMO: Panda Bond Size Seen at RMB2–4bn, March Earliest Issuance Window

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

ECB Insight: Lagarde Preserves Optionality on Rates — and on Leaving

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

ECB’s Lagarde Repeats That “Baseline” Is to Serve Full Term as ECB President

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

ECB’s Panetta Says Monetary Policy Must Remain Flexible, Flags China Import Surge

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

ECB Tone Meter Weekly Update: Governing Council Turns Dovish as Rate Cut Talk Re-emerges

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

ECB Insight: If Lagarde’s “Baseline” Was Intended to Extinguish a Fire, It Failed

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

ECB Insight: Demarco’s “Good Place” Comes With a Clear Escape Hatch

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

Transcript: Interview with Greece Public Debt Management Agency’s Dimitris Tsakonas on 18 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

Exclusive: Greek Debt Head: New Syndication in 2026 “Most Likely”, Format TBD

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

ECB’s Lagarde: “My Baseline” Is to Finish ECB Term

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

ECB’s Lagarde Warns Erosion of Global Rules Risks Costly Trade Fragmentation

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

ECB’s Stournaras: Next Move Slightly More Likely Down Than Up

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

ECB’s Cipollone: Digital Euro Would Bolster Payments Autonomy

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