German Producer Prices +3.7% Y/Y in March, Fastest Increase Since November 2011
The acceleration was the tenth in a row and represented a significant increase from February’s 1.9% on the year.
20 April 2021
Central Bank News
German Bundesbank: Output Down in 1Q, But Basic Tendency Still Robust
In its latest monthly bulletin, the German central bank repeated its expectation of HICP rates well above 3% in the latter part of the year.
19 April 2021
German Finance Minister: Expect to Vaccinate up to 5 Million People a Week by End-April
In an interview with German weekly Welt am Sonntag, Scholz said, ‘The current plans are that by the end of April we will be vaccinating four to five million citizens per week. This then increases steadily, soon we will also be able to include company doctors in the campaign; by the end of June we can reach the ten million mark.’
18 April 2021
ECB’s Knot: Risk of Retracting Policy Support Too Soon Worse than Being Too Quick
In a speech at a Eurofi seminar, Knot, who heads the Dutch National Bank, compared the European economy to a patient nearing the end of the emergency phase and ready to gradually concentrate on recovery.
16 April 2021
German Finance Minister: To Do Everything Possible to Further Accelerate Vaccination
In remarks made on the occasion of a virtual Eurogroup meeting, Scholz said that widespread vaccination would hopefully soon make a return to normality possible, while giving ‘a decisive boost to the economic recovery.’
16 April 2021
ECB’s de Cos: Light at End of Tunnel, But Tunnel May Lengthen and Light May Dim
In a speech at the Eurofi High-level Virtual Seminar 2021 posted to the website of Banco de España, which he heads, de Cos said that ‘recent positive health-related developments bring some much-needed rays of hope’, citing vaccines, diagnostics and treatments.
15 April 2021
German Finance Minister: Goal Is To Leave Pandemic Behind Us This Summer
In an interview with German daily Saarbrücker Zeitung, Scholz said, ‘Our goal is to make good progress with vaccination week by week so that we can finally leave the pandemic behind us in the summer. But this also requires that the number of newly infected people does not increase too much and throw a spanner in the works - which is why we need to act decisively now.’
15 April 2021
German Inflation Confirmed at 1.7% Y/Y in March
The increase was the fastest since 1.7% in both January and February of last year, and represented a clear pick-up of the pace of price growth after February’s 1.3%, January’s 1.0% and negative annual readings in each of the last four months of last year.
15 April 2021
ECB’s de Guindos: Early Removal of Policy Support Riskier Than Leaving Support in Place
In presenting the ECB Annual Report to the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament, de Guindos said that ‘[a]lthough policy support has been successful in containing immediate financial stability risks, medium-term vulnerabilities remain high.’
14 April 2021
ECB’s Centeno: Monetary and Fiscal Policy Support Crucial, Must Be Preserved
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – The combined support of monetary and fiscal policy has been essential for Europe’s economy and must be maintained, European Central Bank Governing Council member Mario Centeno said Wednesday .
14 April 2021
ECB’s Villeroy: Monetary Policy Should Remain Accommodative For Years
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member François Villeroy de Galhau said Wednesday that ECB monetary policy should remain accommodative for years.
14 April 2021
ECB’s Centeno: ECB Policy Has Not Seriously Worsened Financial Vulnerabilities
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Financial risks persist, but the European Central Bank’s policy measures in response to the crisis have not seriously aggravated such vulnerabilities, ECB Governing Council member Mario Centeno said Wednesday .
14 April 2021
ECB’s Lagarde: Policy Support Will Be ‘Needed Until Well Into the Recovery’
In an event with Reuters, Lagarde said that ‘[w]e are still clearly dealing with a pandemic crisis’ and ‘are still swamped with uncertainty’. Every day there are developments that underscore this, she said, citing vaccine-related snags and increases in hospitalisations.
14 April 2021
ECB’s Scicluna: Risks Assessed as More Balanced After 2021
In a statement in the annual report of the Central Bank of Malta, which he heads, Scicluna said that Malta’s relatively good economic conditions ‘means that once foreign demand recovers and the lingering uncertainty surrounding the medical crisis dissipates, the Maltese economy can be expected to rebound from the COVID-19 shock.’
14 April 2021
Bank of Portugal Vice Governor: EU Recovery Fund Backs Expectations of Growth Soon
In an article for Views - the Eurofi Magazine, dos Santos wrote that ‘the approval of an unprecedented volume of European funds to support the recovery of the European Union’s economies, a large part in the form of straight grants, gives credence to forecasts for growth in the near future.’
14 April 2021
ECB’s Villeroy: March 2022 End of PEPP Purchases Doesn’t Imply Abrupt Tightening
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Even if the European Central Bank decided to end net purchases under the pandemic emergency purchase programme (PEPP) next March as planned, this would not mean that monetary policy would abruptly tighten, Governing Council member François Villeroy de Galhau said Tuesday.
13 April 2021
ECB’s Visco: As Emergency Ends, Fiscal Transfers Must Become Very Selective and Targeted
In an interview with CNN, Visco, who heads Banca d’Italia, was asked whether he considered it reasonable that Italy was able to issue 50-year bonds paying less than 30-year sovereign debt of the US. The most important thing was that there be policies ‘to overcome this very, very difficult time’, he said. Moreover, he added, debt sustainability depended on economic growth, the magnitude of the debt and the interest burden.
13 April 2021
ECB’s Villeroy: If Restrictions Don’t Outlast May, See French 2021 GDP Growth Over 5%
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Provided pandemic containment measures are not extended beyond next month, French GDP growth this year should top 5%, European Central Bank Governing Council member François Villeroy de Galhau said Tuesday.
13 April 2021
German ZEW Declines in April; First Drop Since November
Moreover, financial market participants assessed the current situation much more positively, as the subindex rose 12.2 points to -48.8. This was approximately equal to the level of March 2020, ZEW said.
13 April 2021
ECB’s de Cos: Financial Tensions One of the Main Risks Facing Central Banks
In a speech at a central banking conference posted to the website of Banco de España, which he heads, de Cos said that given ‘high uncertainty and still fragile economic conditions, monetary policies should continue to contribute to maintaining favourable financing conditions, which will help to underpin the strength of the recovery.’
12 April 2021