ECB’s Makhlouf: Can't rule out anything at future meetings

Sagar Dua FXStreet

European Central Bank (ECB) Governing Council member and Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland, Gabriel Makhlouf, signaled during the European trading session on Thursday that the central bank could raise policy rates further in upcoming policy meetings. Makhlouf said that he doesn’t see any sign of second-round effects of inflation emerging in the near term.

Additional remarks

Can't rule out anything at future meetings.

Risks to inflation remain on upside.

Not seeing sign of concerning 2nd-round effects.

Market reaction

Some selling pressure is observed in the Euro (EUR) against the US Dollar (USD), following ECB Makhlouf's remrks. However, the move appears to be driven by a recovery move in the US Dollar. As of writing, EUR/USD trades flat at around 1.1465.

ECB FAQs

What is the ECB and how does it influence the Euro?

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.

What is Quantitative Easing (QE) and how does it affect the Euro?

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.

What is Quantitative tightening (QT) and how does it affect the Euro?

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.

Author

Sagar Dua

FXStreet

Sagar Dua is associated with the financial markets from his college days. Along with pursuing post-graduation in Commerce in 2014, he started his markets training with chart analysis.

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