Monetary Policy Decisions
On 11 June 2026 the European Central Bank’s Governing Council raised its three key policy rates by 25 basis points, setting the deposit facility at 2.25%, the main refinancing rate at 2.40% and the marginal lending facility at 2.65%. The move responds to heightened inflation pressures from the Middle‑East war, which have lifted energy and commodity prices. Staff now project headline inflation averaging 3.0% in 2026, above the 2% target, while growth forecasts have been trimmed. The ECB emphasizes a data‑dependent, meeting‑by‑meeting approach without pre‑committing to a rate path.
Luis De Guindos: Interview with Financial Times
ECB Vice‑President Luis de Guindos told the Financial Times that the current energy‑price shock differs from the 2021‑22 inflation surge, noting that monetary policy is now tightening and fiscal space is constrained. He cautioned against postponing decisions for academic debates and...
Luis De Guindos: Deepening Financial Integration to Support Europe’s Prosperity
In a May 7, 2026 keynote, ECB Vice‑President Luis de Guindos highlighted the EU’s strides toward deeper financial integration, noting that euro‑area asset‑price gaps have narrowed and cross‑border debt activity has risen. He warned that cross‑border corporate lending remains low at just 14%...
Euro Area Financial Integration Improves Despite Persistent Fragmentation, ECB Report Shows
The European Central Bank’s latest financial‑integration report shows that euro‑area markets have become more cohesive since late 2022, driven by falling redenomination risk premia and EU‑wide policy support. Cross‑border holdings of debt securities and interbank lending have risen, enhancing risk sharing...
Decisions Taken by the Governing Council of the ECB (in Addition to Decisions Setting Interest Rates)
On 4 May 2026 the European Central Bank Governing Council released its 2025 Annual Report and enacted a suite of policy updates. It simplified excess‑reserve remuneration by aligning it with the deposit‑facility rate effective 17 June 2026, and approved a comprehensive payments strategy to...
Luis De Guindos: Presentation of the ECB Annual Report 2025 to the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the...
Luis de Guindos, the ECB Vice‑President, presented the 2025 Annual Report to the European Parliament, noting his mandate ends later this month. The report shows euro‑area GDP grew 1.4% while inflation averaged 2.1%, prompting a 100‑basis‑point cut to the deposit‑facility rate,...
Piero Cipollone: Digital Assets, Payment Efficiency and Monetary Policy
In a May 4, 2026 speech, ECB Executive Board member Piero Cipollone outlined how tokenisation and distributed‑ledger technology could reshape payments, but only if central banks provide a risk‑free digital settlement layer. He announced the Eurosystem’s Pontes project, which will...
ECB Consumer Expectations Survey Results – March 2026
The ECB’s March 2026 Consumer Expectations Survey shows a sharp rise in inflation perceptions, with the median 12‑month rate climbing to 3.5% and one‑year ahead expectations jumping to 4.0%. While nominal income growth expectations held steady at 1.2%, consumers now...
Christine Lagarde: IMFC Statement
Christine Lagarde told the IMF that the euro area faces heightened uncertainty from the war in the Middle East, which is pushing energy prices higher and nudging headline inflation to 2.6% in March. ECB staff now project real GDP growth...
Piero Cipollone: Sparking the Transformation of Finance: Tokenisation and the Role of Central Banks
In a Harvard‑Law‑School keynote, ECB Executive Board member Piero Cipollone argued that tokenisation and distributed‑ledger technology (DLT) represent a general‑purpose innovation capable of reshaping the entire financial architecture. He highlighted the historic constancy of intermediation costs—about 2% of assets—and suggested...
Philip R. Lane: The Economic Outlook and Monetary Policy in the Euro Area
Philip R. Lane, ECB Executive Board member, delivered a comprehensive briefing on the euro area’s monetary‑policy toolkit, recent balance‑sheet composition and the latest macroeconomic outlook. He highlighted that inflation, especially the non‑energy core component, remains sticky as of Q1 2026, while...
ECB Governing Council Urges Single Market Boost to Strengthen Bank Competitiveness
The European Central Bank’s Governing Council released a set of proposals aimed at creating a truly single banking market across the euro area. The plan calls for shifting banking rules from directives to directly applicable regulations, merging macro‑prudential buffers, and...
ECB Consumer Expectations Survey Results – February 2026
Euro area consumers’ February 2026 Consumer Expectations Survey shows inflation expectations easing slightly, with the median 12‑month outlook falling to 2.5% from 2.6% and the three‑year horizon also at 2.5%. Perceived inflation over the past year stayed at 3.0%, while nominal...
Monetary Policy Decisions
The European Central Bank kept its three key policy rates unchanged on 19 March 2026, maintaining the deposit facility at 2.00 %, the main refinancing rate at 2.15 % and the marginal lending facility at 2.40 %. It highlighted that inflation is hovering around the...
Eurosystem Unveils Appia Roadmap for Europe’s Tokenised Finance
The Eurosystem unveiled the Appia roadmap, a two‑year plan to build a European tokenised wholesale finance ecosystem while keeping central‑bank money as the system’s anchor. Appia will work alongside the Pontes DLT settlement platform, with a detailed blueprint slated for...