Central Bank

ECB’s Visco: Risks More Balanced, But Outlook Remains Uncertain

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Risks are more balanced, but the outlook remains uncertain and this will make inflation forecasting difficult, European Central Bank Governing Council member Ignazio Visco said Thursday.

ECB Brief: Weidmann Comments on Defining Crisis Phase, Using the APP and Ending the PEPP

ECB’s Elderson: Still Under High Uncertainty; Need Steady Hand for Monetary Policy

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Executive Board member Frank Elderson on Thursday said monetary policy needed to stay the course for now and safeguard the economic recovery.

ECB’s Lane: Euro Area Lags US, Needs Fiscal Policy Support For Sustained Period

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Executive Board member Philip Lane on Thursday argued again that the euro area lagged far behind the United States in policy-relevant respects and urged sustained fiscal support.

ECB’s Lane: Not Worth Comparing ECB and Fed Priorities Given ‘So Different’ Situations

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Executive Board member Philip Lane on Thursday played down the significance for the ECB of Wednesday’s unexpectedly hawkish policy guidance from the US Federal Reserve.

ECB Insight: ECB’s Lane Hints at Continued ‘Steady Hand’ Until December

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Executive Board member Philip Lane on Thursday indicated that the September Governing Council meeting might be too soon for the ECB to abandon its current ‘steady hand’ and start beating a retreat from its ultra-accommodative policy stance.

ECB’s Makhlouf: ECB Discussing Implications of Pandemic Savings

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – The European Central Bank is very interested in what the accumulation of savings during the pandemic means for economies as they reopen, Governing Council member Gabriel Makhlouf said on Wednesday.

ECB Brief: Holzmann Comments on PEPP End, Inflation

ECB’s Holzmann: PEPP to be Revisited in Autumn and End in March if Pandemic Allows

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Robert Holzmann on Monday suggested that the pandemic emergency purchase programme (PEPP) would end as scheduled next March and that the decision about the transition away from the PEPP would be made in the fall.

ECB Brief: Lagarde Takes a Further Step in the Direction of the Inevitable

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde’s comments to Politico published Monday represented a further tentative step in the direction of conceding the inevitable: an economic recovery that would make extraordinary policy support unnecessary and hence require discussion about withdrawing related measures.

ECB's Lagarde: Pre-Covid Level of Real GDP Likely Regained in 1Q 2022

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde on Monday gave an even more upbeat assessment of euro area economic prospects than at Thursday’s press conference, predicting a return to pre-Covid levels of output already in the first quarter of next year.

Bundesbank Board Member Wuermeling: Need Negative Interest Rates to Restore Price Stability

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – German Bundesbank Board member Joachim Wuermeling on Monday defended negative interest rates as appropriate in light of inflation prospects.

Banco de España Upgrades Growth Outlook to 6.2% in 2021, 5.8% in 2022

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – The Spanish economy will expand by 6.2% this year and 5.8% next before slowing to 1.8% in 2023, according to the latest projections of Banco de España, released Monday.

ECB Brief: Villeroy Comments on Monetary Policy Support and the French Economic Recovery

ECB’s Villeroy: Must Keep Policy Accommodative; Can Be at Least as Patient as US Fed

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member François Villeroy de Galhau said Friday that the ECB had to keep monetary policy accommodative and that the ECB could be ‘at least as patient’ as the US Federal Reserve in setting policy.

ECB’s Holzmann: 'Leave it to Your Imagination' Where I Stood on Asset Purchase Pace

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Robert Holzmann on Friday declined to say whether he had supported the ECB’s decision yesterday to continue conducting asset purchases under the pandemic emergency purchase programme (PEPP) at the higher pace of the second quarter.

ECB’s Vasle: Still Need Comprehensive Monetary and Fiscal Support

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Substantial monetary and fiscal policy support is still necessary to ensure favourable financing conditions, European Central Bank Governing Council member Boštjan Vasle said Friday.

ECB’s Weidmann: Germany Could Already Regain Pre-Pandemic Output Levels This Summer

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – The German economy may return to pre-pandemic levels of output as early as this summer, ECB Governing Council member and German Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann said Friday.

ECB Insight: Perception of Policy Inflection Point Avoided as ECB Claims ‘Steady Hand’

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde on Thursday acknowledged more frankly than previously the emerging economic recovery while firmly rejecting in familiar language the idea that tapering had been or would soon be on the Governing Council’s agenda.

ECB Brief: Shift from PEPP to APP Tempting But Not Necessarily Simple

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Though the European Central Bank’s Governing Council will probably avoid any discussion tomorrow of the winding down of its pandemic emergency purchase programme (PEPP), such a discussion seems likely to occur before at least some members are ready for it.