ECB's Schnabel: Subdued growth should not be taken as evidence that policy is restrictive
European Central Bank board member Isabel Schnabel argued on Tuesday that the fact that growth remains subdued cannot and should not be taken as evidence that policy is restrictive, as reported by Reuters.
Key takeaways
"We are transitioning from a global savings glut towards a global bond glut."
"There is still ample excess liquidity."
"The natural rate of interest in the Euro area has increased appreciably over the past two years."
"The nature of the inflation process is likely to have changed lastingly."
"If QT leads to a scarcity of reserves, it may cause the overall convenience yield to rise and hence equilibrium rates to fall."
"It is becoming increasingly unlikely that current financing conditions are materially holding back consumption and investment."
Market reaction
EUR/USD continues to edge higher after these comments and was last seen rising 0.38% on the day at 1.0507.
ECB FAQs
The European Central Bank (ECB) in Frankfurt, Germany, is the reserve bank for the Eurozone. The ECB sets interest rates and manages monetary policy for the region. The ECB primary mandate is to maintain price stability, which means keeping inflation at around 2%. Its primary tool for achieving this is by raising or lowering interest rates. Relatively high interest rates will usually result in a stronger Euro and vice versa. The ECB Governing Council makes monetary policy decisions at meetings held eight times a year. Decisions are made by heads of the Eurozone national banks and six permanent members, including the President of the ECB, Christine Lagarde.
In extreme situations, the European Central Bank can enact a policy tool called Quantitative Easing. QE is the process by which the ECB prints Euros and uses them to buy assets – usually government or corporate bonds – from banks and other financial institutions. QE usually results in a weaker Euro. QE is a last resort when simply lowering interest rates is unlikely to achieve the objective of price stability. The ECB used it during the Great Financial Crisis in 2009-11, in 2015 when inflation remained stubbornly low, as well as during the covid pandemic.
Quantitative tightening (QT) is the reverse of QE. It is undertaken after QE when an economic recovery is underway and inflation starts rising. Whilst in QE the European Central Bank (ECB) purchases government and corporate bonds from financial institutions to provide them with liquidity, in QT the ECB stops buying more bonds, and stops reinvesting the principal maturing on the bonds it already holds. It is usually positive (or bullish) for the Euro.
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