ECB’s Wunsch: US-Iran deal confirmation before June meeting won’t derail interest rate hike hopes
European Central Bank (ECB) policymaker and the head of Belgium's central bank, Pierre Wunsch, said in an interview with Financial Times (FT), released on Wednesday, that the likelihood of central bank tightening monetary conditions in the policy meeting next week will remain firm, even if the United States (US) and Iran announce a permanent peace deal before the meeting.
"If a peace deal is confirmed just before the meeting, it will be part of the discussion. But we won't know whether it will last or be credible," Wunsch told the newspaper.
Market reaction
There seems to be no impact of ECB Wunsch's comments on the Euro (EUR). As of writing, EUR/USD trades subduedly at around 1.1625.
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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