Eurozone
ECB considers new securities settlement service
The European Central Bank said Friday 7 July it is considering setting up a new service for securities settlement in the eurozone. Through the new system, the ECB said it aims for synergies and harmonized settlement of securities transactions in the euro…
Tumpel-Gugerell on European financial integration
In the speech 'European financial integration and the financial system' given on 6 July Gertrude Tumpel-Gugerell of the ECB said economic growth and prosperity was one of the main goals for the establishment of the European Union. The next hurdle is now…
Garganas on regional financial stability
In the speech 'Regional financial stability around the Eurozone' given on 1 June Nicholas Garganas of the Bank of Greece said it is important to recognize that, as the financial systems of South-Eastern European countries are liberalized and their…
Trichet gives strong hint on August rate rise
European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet said Thursday 6 July that the ECB governing council will meet in person on 3 August rather than by teleconference, as it normally does for its early August policy meeting.
Comment: The ECB's gamble
The president of the ECB, Jean-Claude Trichet, has announced that the central bank will take the highly unusually step of meeting in person on 3 August, rather than conduct the scheduled conference call. In doing so, Trichet has effectively pre-announced…
ECB paper on financial stability challenges
The ECB Occasional Paper 'Macroeconomic and financial stability challenges for acceding and candidate countries' reviews macroeconomic and financial stability challenges for acceding (Bulgaria and Romania) and candidate countries (Croatia and Turkey).
Comment: All eyes on Trichet
All but two of the 43 economists polled by Bloomberg recently expect the European Central Bank (ECB) to keep interest rates at 2.75% this week. All eyes will, however, be on the central bank's president, Jean-Claude Trichet, to see if he alludes to the…
Trichet on further integrating euro area economies
In the speech 'Further integrating euro area economies: some reflections' given on 29 June Jean-Claude Trichet of the ECB said the economic and financial environment is changing and euro area countries are becoming progressively more interdependent.
Transparency, expectations, and forecasts
In 1994 the FOMC began to release statements after each meeting. This ECB Working Paper investigates whether the public's views about the current path of the economy and of future policy have been affected by changes in the Federal Reserve's…
ECB paper on the Stability and Growth Pact
A year on from the SGP reform, the ECB Occasional Paper "The reform and implementation of the Stability and Growth Pact" takes stock of how the EU fiscal rules have evolved.
Euro membership not good for all, study says
According to this article published Monday 26 June, a new report from the CEPR claims Britain and other European economies have little to gain from adopting the euro now.
ECB 'permanently alert' says Trichet
European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet said in an interview published Tuesday 27 June the ECB governing council is "permanently alert" and ready to act to counter inflation risks.
Garganas says ECB may aggressively raise rates
European Central Bank council member Nicholas Garganas said in an interview the bank is ready to accelerate the pace of interest-rate increases to counter higher inflation risks in the eurozone.
ECB keeping rate options open says Quaden
The European Central Bank is not ruling out the possibility of an interest rate hike in early August, ECB governing council member Guy Quaden was quoted as saying in an interview published Monday 26 June.
Buba's Weber says ECB 'very accommodative'
Bundesbank president Axel Weber said on Friday 23 June that the European Central Bank's monetary policy remains very accommodative despite the June 8 interest rate increase.
Liikanen says euro area inflation risks on upside
Inflation risks in the eurozone are on the upside, European Central Bank Governing Council member Erkki Liikanen was quoted as saying by Finnish daily Demari in an interview published on Thursday 22 June.
ECB's Trichet on economic and monetary issues
In the testimony given on 21 June Jean-Claude Trichet of the ECB said the insight that price stability is the primary goal for monetary policy has also been translated into the mandates of central banks of advanced economies and also of a very large…
Trichet will 'fiercely' defend ECB independence
European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet told the European Parliament on Wednesday 21 June that he will "fiercely" defend the independence of the ECB.
ECB's Tumpel-Gugerell on the drivers of change
In the speech 'The drivers of change: regulation versus competition' given on 15 June Gertrude Tumpel-Gugerell of the ECB said the European case study shows that regulatory changes can have a very profound impact on the structure, profitability and…
Juncker issues icy reply to Trichet
Jean-Claude Trichet, the European Central Bank president, has been sharply criticised by Jean-Claude Juncker, Luxembourg's prime minister, in an interview with Financial Times Deutschland, for refusing to discuss strengthening economic co-operation…
EU confirms Slovenia's 2007 euro entry
EU leaders ended their spring summit Friday 16 June by welcoming Slovenia as the 13th member of the euro single currency.
ECB Monthly Bulletin, June 2006
The European Central Bank published its June 2006 Monthly Bulletin on Thursday 15 June. In the report the ECB said inflation risks from strong money supply growth have become much clearer over the past two years.
New global note arrangement for debt securities
The ECB confirmed Monday 12 June that the so-called New Global Note (NGN) arrangement for international debt securities is in compliance with the Eurosystem's Standards for the use of EU securities settlement systems in ESCB credit operations.
Trichet is right to be nervous about inflation
According to this article by the Financial Times, published Monday 12 June, Jean-Claude Trichet and his ECB colleagues are nervous about inflation and rightly so.