By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde has not undone the hawkish signal of April 30, when she suggested that “directionally, I know where we're heading.” Still, she has made clearer that June 11 may be more open than markets believed.
11 May 2026
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – European Central Bank Vice President Luis de Guindos said on Monday that the ECB must be prudent ahead of its next interest rate decision, warning that incoming economic data are likely to show weaker growth amid the ongoing energy-price shock.
11 May 2026
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Martin Kocher said that the risk of stagflation in the Eurozone could not be ruled out and that the ECB should not wait too long to raise interest rates if energy prices failed to improve quickly and clearly.
11 May 2026
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Yannis Stournaras said on Sunday that Europe needed to deepen integration to raise growth, strengthen resilience and close its financing gap with other major economies.
10 May 2026
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member José Luis Escrivá on Saturday said private stablecoins could not serve as the anchor of the monetary system, arguing that central banks remained essential guarantors of trust amid geoeconomic fragmentation and rapid technological change.
9 May 2026
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said on Saturday that the ECB faced “massive uncertainty” over the Middle East war and needed more data before deciding whether to raise interest rates in June.
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By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – Econostream’s ECB Tone Meter moved further into hawkish territory this week, with both the Governing Council and Executive Board indices penetrating deeper into the slightly hawkish range between +0.5 and +2.5.
8 May 2026
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Joachim Nagel said on Friday that the Eurosystem remained highly vigilant about inflationary risks stemming from the energy shock, while arguing that Germany faced major structural challenges requiring reforms to labor supply, investment conditions and productivity growth.
8 May 2026
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – European Central Bank Vice President Luis de Guindos said on Friday that the full impact of the energy shock on economic activity had yet to materialize.
8 May 2026
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Although her remarks on Thursday evening may have been taken hawkishly, European Central Bank Executive Board member Isabel Schnabel did not make the case that the ECB must raise rates in June, even if such an outcome seems likely from today’s perspective. Rather, while continuing to leave the ECB an escape hatch, she emphasized that waiting for wage growth to prove second-round effects could imply waiting too long.
8 May 2026
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member François Villeroy de Galhau’s final monetary policy speech as Banque de France governor on Thursday was meant to be an exercise in humility. Hypocrisy won.
8 May 2026
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde on Friday said Europe should not respond to the spread of dollar stablecoins by simply promoting euro-denominated versions, warning that this could create financial stability risks and weaken monetary policy transmission.
8 May 2026
By Marta Vilar – LONDON (Econostream) – European Central Bank Executive Board member Isabel Schnabel said on Thursday that the ECB should not wait for wage growth to accelerate before responding to the inflationary effects of the energy shock linked to the Middle East conflict, warning that doing so could mean reacting “too late.”
7 May 2026
By Marta Vilar – LONDON (Econostream) – European Central Bank Executive Board member Isabel Schnabel said on Thursday that the ECB could have to tighten monetary policy if the energy shock linked to the conflict in the Middle East spreads more broadly through the economy, as risks of second-round inflation effects have risen in recent weeks.
7 May 2026
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member François Villeroy de Galhau said on Thursday that speculation and statements about the timing of the ECB’s next interest rate hike seemed like “disguised forward guidance.”
7 May 2026
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Martin Kocher on Thursday said the ECB was not pre-committed to raising interest rates in June, but would have to consider rate hikes in the coming months if the Middle East situation failed to improve and energy prices remained elevated.
7 May 2026
By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Joachim Nagel said on Thursday that the ECB may raise interest rates in June unless the economic outlook improves significantly.
7 May 2026
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Vice President Luis de Guindos on Thursday urged faster progress on European financial integration, saying the European Union needed deeper capital markets, a stronger banking union and simpler regulation to support growth and competitiveness.
7 May 2026
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – French President Emmanuel Macron has proposed former Élysée secretary-general Emmanuel Moulin as the next governor of the Bank of France, putting a close presidential ally in line to succeed European Central Bank Governing Council member François Villeroy de Galhau.
6 May 2026
By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Chief Economist Philip Lane said Tuesday that climate change and the green transition increasingly mattered for monetary policy, but that the ECB could not apply a uniform response to climate-related shocks.
5 May 2026