European Central Bank (ECB)
ECB predicts eurozone recovery
In its May bulletin published on Thursday 15 May, the ECB said "Looking ahead, a gradual strengthening of real GDP growth is expected to start later in 2003 and to gather more pace in the course of next year", according to the Financial Times
Is Europe already experiencing deflation?
An article in the Financial Times asks whether the threat of deflation is likely and suggests it may already be here and that, given the example of Japan, it may be that nothing can be done about it.
Hitting the target
Target2 presents an opportunity to rationalise and modernise the euro clearing and settlement process. The ECB needs to look beyond RTGS argues Mike Evans.
A spring-cleaning for the Eurosystem
As the Eurosystem prepares for the arrival of new members, it has first to attend to some housekeeping. A report by Nick Carver
The stability and growth pact: next steps
A flexible and cyclical assessment of euro countries’ finances will mean earlier warnings from Brussels. Has the pact bounced back? William M. Clarke reports.
Interview: Manfred J.M. Neumann
In conversation with the editor, Manfred J.M. Neumann explains why the ECB should keep its first pillar (a prominent role for money growth), but alter potentially divisive voting proposals. Manfred J.M. Neumann is a professor of economics at the…
Annual Report of the ECB's Anti-Fraud Committee
The Annual report on the activities of the Anti-Fraud Committee of the European Central Bank has been published, covering the period from March 2002 to January 2003.
Duisenberg on accepting Austrian decoration
On accepting an Austrian decoration from Dr Thomas Klestil, the Austrian President, Wim Duisenberg of the European Central Bank said "I should again like to express my sincere gratitude for this high decoration. It strengthens my belief that the cause I …
ECB to aim for inflation 'close to 2%'
The ECB said Thursday that its Governing Council agreed that in the pursuit of price stability it will aim to maintain inflation rates close to 2% over the medium term. "This clarification underlines the ECB's commitment to provide a sufficient safety…
Papademos presents the ECB's Annual Report
In his presentation of the ECB's Annual Report 2002 to the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament Lucas Papademos said one of the main messages of 2002 has been that the euro area economy needs to become more flexible and…
Welteke confirms support for stability pact
Looking back over the lifetime of the euro, Ernst Welteke, the president of the Deutsche Bundesbank, said in a speech on Wednesday that the ECB had achieved its aim of price stability in the face of strong and in some cases unprecedented economic shocks…
Hamalainen on challenges for retail banking
In a speech on 'EU accession - challenges for retail banking' Sirkka Hamalainen of the ECB said the ECB has assessed the payments infrastructure in the acceding countries and found it sufficiently robust to ensure that it will not generate systemic risks…
Duisenberg heir need not be French, lawmaker says
Christa Randzio-Plath, chairwoman of the European Parliament's monetary committee, has said that Wim Duisenberg's successor at the ECB does not have to be French, commenting "We have not only to look at nationality", according to Bloomberg News.
ECB voting change could hinder UK euro entry
The UK's treasury select committee said on Monday April 28 in a report that the ECB's proposed change in voting arrangements could pose an "obstacle to entry" for Britain and the euro, according to the Financial Times.
Solans on the ECB's Memorandum of Understanding
Eugenio Domingo Solans of the European Central Bank spoke of the close cooperation between the ECB and the European Commission (Eurostat) at the signature of the Memorandum of Understanding on Economic and Financial Statistics.
ECB's Solans on the international role of the euro
In a speech on 'The international role of the euro in a globalised economy' Eugenio Domingo Solans of the European Central Bank said the euro is firmly established as the second most important currency in global markets and that although the ECB sees the…
Hamalainen on the euro: making progress
In a speech on 'The euro: making progress' Sirkka Hamalainen of the European Central Bank said the euro has lived up to expectations and has delivered the internal price and financial stability that it was supposed to. On the indirect effects of the euro…
Duisenberg speech before the President of Italy
In a speech Wim Duisenberg of the European Central Bank spoke of Rome as a symbolic City for the ECB to hold a Governing Council meeting. The ECB has decided to meet twice a year outside its Frankfurt base, partly to emphasise the federal character of…
Issing on monetary and financial stability
In a speech on 'Monetary and financial stability: Is there a trade-off?' Otmar Issing of the European Central Bank said the question whether there is a trade-off between monetary and financial stability has been one of the most interesting areas of…
Bundesbank's profits shrink by nearly 50%
The Bundesbank revealed this week that profits for 2002 fell by almost 50%. Gold and currency reserves were shown to have more than halved on the previous year, accordint to a report in the Frankfurther Allgemeine Zeitung.
ECB's Papademos praises Ireland's economy
In a speech made in Dublin and reported by RTE News, the ECB's vice president, Lucas Papademos, said the Irish economy was a good example to others. He also outlined and defended the ECB's proposed new three-tier rotating voting system.
ECB's Issing on eurozone growth
In testimony to the European Parliament Otmar Issing of the ECB said eurozone economic growth is expected to be only moderate this year, and inflation is forecast to fall below 2%, although developments continue to be overshadowed by the war in Iraq. He…
EC to consider war when evaluating Pact
Romano Prodi has indicated that war in Iraq will be taken into account when the European Commission assesses member countries' deficits under the stability and growth pact, according to a BizWorld report.
ECB ready to react to disturbances
The ECB reassured on Thursday that it was ready to react in the event of financial market disturbances after the start of military action against Iraq.