European Central Bank Profile picture
The European Central Bank is the central bank for Europe's single currency, the euro. Its main task is to maintain the euro's purchasing power.
8 subscribers
Jan 4, 2023 4 tweets 3 min read
🧵Interested in insights into the world of central banking?

Catch up with #TheECBPodcast to listen to our host, @katieranger_, talk to experts about the topics that matter to the euro area economy today.

Here is a recap of some of the episodes in 2022 ⬇️

1/4 Are cyberattacks a threat to financial stability? Why do hackers target financial institutions?

Our expert John Fell answered these and other questions on #TheECBPodcast pod.link/1481819425/epi…

2/4
Jan 3, 2023 4 tweets 2 min read
🧵 In 2022 we published ten new or updated Explainers, a clear and visual way to understand central banking topics – available in all EU languages!

Here is a recap of some of them in case you missed them ⬇️

1/4 Image Raising interest rates is our main tool for fighting inflation. But what do higher rates mean for you?

Read our #Explainer to find out more ecb.europa.eu/ecb/educationa…

2/4
Sep 26, 2022 4 tweets 2 min read
🧵 The digitalisation of finance has broadened payment options, with emerging fintechs, big techs and cryptos causing disruptions, says Executive Board member Fabio Panetta at the @bundesbank. We need to preserve an anchor of stability for the monetary and payments systems.

1/4 Panetta: Safeguarding this anchor is what our digital euro project is all about. We want to ensure that central bank money remains available to everyone in the euro area. But we also need to modernise the payment infrastructure underpinning our financial system.

2/4
May 5, 2022 4 tweets 2 min read
🧵 We must be prudent, recognising what we can do, but also what we cannot do, Executive Board member Fabio Panetta tells @LaStampa. We have limited room to cool imported inflation but we must prevent the rise in inflation from becoming entrenched.

ecb.europa.eu/press/inter/da…
 
1/4 Image Panetta: With medium-term inflation around 2%, we can gradually reduce stimulus.
But we must remain data-driven. It would be unwise to act without fully understanding how the war and global factors will affect inflation, demand and production. Uncertainty is enormous

2/4
Apr 28, 2022 4 tweets 2 min read
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has cast a dark shadow over our continent, says Vice-President Luis de Guindos as he presents our 2021 Annual Report to the @Europarl_EN

Speech ecb.europa.eu/press/key/date…
Annual Report ecb.europa.eu/pub/annual/htm…

1/4 De Guindos: The war in Ukraine is above all a human tragedy causing enormous suffering. But it is also affecting the economy in Europe. Growth will be slower than expected and inflation is likely to remain high in the coming months

2/4
Apr 25, 2022 5 tweets 2 min read
🧵 Globally coordinated efforts are needed to bring crypto-assets into a regulatory framework, says Executive Board member Fabio Panetta at @Columbia. We must not repeat past mistakes by waiting for the bubble to burst before acting ecb.europa.eu/press/key/date…

1/5 Panetta: Unbacked crypto-assets can’t even fulfil their objective of facilitating payments, since they are too volatile to perform as money. We must decide how to regulate them, seeking a balance between innovation, financial stability and consumer protection

2/5
Apr 25, 2022 4 tweets 2 min read
🧵 How much less will people consume in response to the recent increase in energy prices? After a period of recovery following the pandemic, the rise in commodity prices since last summer has affected people’s spending plans ecb.europa.eu/pub/economic-b…
#EconomicBulletin

1/4 Exposure to fluctuating energy prices differs across income groups: the less people earn, the bigger the impact of higher prices. Poorer households spend a large percentage of their income on energy, meaning they are particularly affected by rising costs

2/4
Mar 30, 2022 5 tweets 2 min read
A digital euro can only be successful if it meets the payment needs of Europeans, says Executive Board member Fabio Panetta. Focus groups have provided us with key input for the project.

Mr Panetta’s speech ecb.europa.eu/press/key/date…
Read the report ecb.europa.eu/paym/digital_e…

1/5 Panetta: We want to ensure the digital euro adds value for users and that they have confidence in it. A digital euro could provide a universally accepted and secure solution that facilitates contactless and instant payments

2/5
Mar 29, 2022 4 tweets 2 min read
🧵 We do think that inflation will decline later this year and will be a lot lower next year and the year after compared with this year, Chief Economist Philip R. Lane tells @PoliticoEurope’s @JohannaTreeck and @suzannelynch1 ecb.europa.eu/press/inter/da…

1/4 Lane: What we’ve seen in the last number of months is the energy shock, which is by far the dominant factor and which is now further amplified by the war

2/4
Mar 27, 2022 4 tweets 2 min read
The war is expected to have a considerable impact on the global economy, and especially on the European economy, President Christine @Lagarde tells @philenewscy. The overall impact will very much depend on how long the war lasts.

1/4 Image Lagarde: The war will likely lower euro area growth and push up inflation in the short term through:

➡️ higher energy and commodity prices
➡️ lower consumer confidence
➡️ disruptions to international trade

2/4
Feb 10, 2022 4 tweets 2 min read
🧵Looking at inflation dynamics, the relative price dislocations caused by bottlenecks are intrinsically short-term, Chief Economist Philip R. Lane writes in #TheECBBlog. Price increases for scarce items stimulate supply, while cooling demand ecb.europa.eu/press/blog/dat…

1/4 Lane: If disruption in supply is caused by a temporary loss of production capacity, for example a factory shutdown, a recovery in supply capacity will put downward pressure on prices once the shock has reversed

2/4
Nov 22, 2021 4 tweets 1 min read
[THREAD]European banks have taken initial steps towards incorporating climate and environmental risks, but none is close to meeting all supervisory expectations. Have a look at our first report on climate-related risks in the European banking sector bankingsupervision.europa.eu/press/pr/date/… 1/4 Image Half of the banks we assessed expect to be affected by climate-related risks within the next 3-5 years. Notably, none of the banks which judged that they were not exposed had conducted a proper risk assessment 2/4
Nov 8, 2021 4 tweets 1 min read
(THREAD) Monetary policy affects inflation with a considerable time lag. Abrupt tightening of policy would not lower inflation now but slow the economy and cost jobs, leading to inflation below our 2% target later, says Chief Economist Philip R. Lane
1/4 Lane: Our analysis shows three temporary factors pushing up inflation now are projected to fade over the next year:
1) unusually low prices during 2020 and temporary tax cuts
2) an unexpectedly strong recovery that is causing supply bottlenecks
3) a surge in energy prices
2/4
Nov 5, 2021 4 tweets 2 min read
Central bank money provides the reference value for all other forms of money, underpinning confidence in the currency, says Executive Board member Fabio Panetta. A digital euro would provide the monetary anchor for the digital era. Read the speech ecb.europa.eu/press/key/date…
1/4 Image Panetta: People’s confidence in private money depends on its convertibility with central bank money, the safest form of money in the economy. The smooth functioning of payment systems ultimately depends on everyone being able to widely access and use sovereign money.
2/4
Nov 5, 2021 4 tweets 2 min read
(THREAD) Our monetary policy and price stability objective are oriented towards the euro area as a whole, but they must consider national differences across countries.
Why is having an inflation buffer particularly important for the euro area?⬇️ ecb.europa.eu/pub/pdf/scpops…
1/4 Image There were two main reasons for having an inflation buffer in the euro area:
1⃣ to help grease the wheels of the economy in the face of price and wage rigidities
2⃣ to limit different price developments across countries – particularly important in a monetary union
2/4
Oct 15, 2021 5 tweets 2 min read
(THREAD) We use macroeconomic models to help prepare our monetary policy decisions and build baseline projections. We conducted an assessment of these models as part of our strategy review ecb.europa.eu/pub/pdf/scpops…
1/5 A suite-of-models approach is typically used across the Eurosystem. Although this approach was already in use during our 2003 strategy review, now we use a wider variety of models and existing models have been improved
2/5
Oct 15, 2021 4 tweets 2 min read
(THREAD) Over the past few years we introduced new monetary policy instruments to achieve our price stability objective.
We looked at their efficiency and potential side effects as part of our strategy review.
Four key findings⬇️ ecb.europa.eu/pub/pdf/scpops…
1/4 1⃣Our monetary policy has effectively eased financing conditions since 2014, supported economic growth, employment and brought inflation closer to our target

2⃣Combining different instruments is more effective than relying on a single tool in a low interest rate environment
2/4
Oct 15, 2021 4 tweets 2 min read
(THREAD) Central bank communication has become a monetary policy tool in its own right. Speaking clearly, consistently and effectively is essential for the credibility, accountability and legitimacy of independent central banks today ecb.europa.eu/pub/pdf/scpops…
1/4 Communication helps manage expectations and economic outcomes, so that central banks can deliver on their mandate and keep prices stable.
For example, forward guidance has provided additional monetary stimulus in times of low inflation and low interest rates in the euro area
2/4
Oct 11, 2021 4 tweets 2 min read
(THREAD) Inflation needs to reach 2% well ahead of the end of our projection horizon and durably for the rest of it, says Chief Economist Philip R. Lane opening the ECB Conference on Monetary Policy. Speech ecb.europa.eu/press/key/date… 1/4 Lane: Our interest rate policy should not react to inflation shocks expected to fade before the end of our projection horizon. We need to see realised progress in underlying inflation 2/4
Oct 8, 2021 4 tweets 1 min read
(THREAD) Without proper regulation, the expansion of digital finance could amplify international shocks and undermine financial resilience globally, says Executive Board member Fabio Panetta.
Read the speech ecb.europa.eu/press/key/date…
1/4 Panetta: We could see risk-biased technological change, whereby the confluence of big techs’ increasing role in finance and the growth of digital assets such as crypto-assets and stablecoins could bring about sudden and disruptive risks for the global economy 2/4
Oct 8, 2021 5 tweets 2 min read
(THREAD) Measuring how people and firms expect inflation to develop is not easy. That’s why we focused on surveys of professional forecasters and on market-based indicators, such as the implications of relevant market prices ecb.europa.eu/pub/pdf/scpops…
1/5 Our research suggests longer-term inflation expectations have become less well anchored in the euro area since the global financial and European debt crises, although different metrics point to conflicting signals about the timing and scale of this process
2/5