EZ ECB Press Conference

ECB president Christine Lagarde’s comments at the press conference were a good illustration of how close a central bank can get to pre-committing without actually pre-committing. It’s obvious that the recent roller-coaster ride of energy prices has made the ECB both more hawkish but also cautious. Where there seemed to be very little need for an additional rate hike three weeks ago, with oil prices below $70/bbl, current oil prices of close to $100/bbl will make it hard for the ECB not to hike in September. Most important comments at ...

The European Central Bank kept borrowing costs on hold on Thursday but left room for more tightening in the coming months as a widening conflict in the Middle East pushed up energy prices again. The ECB kept its deposit rate at 2.25% but said it was "closely monitoring the intensity and duration of the shock, as well as its indirect and second-round effects." The euro extended its falls and was last down 0.28% at $1.1378. Interest-rate sensitive two-year bond yields across the euro area held higher on the day, with German two-year ...

The European Central Bank voted on Thursday to leave its main interest rate unchanged at 2.25%, in a move that fell broadly in line with market expectations. But traders are already anticipating a rate hike in September, as ECB president Christine Lagarde warned renewed Middle East hostilities and the resultant rebound in oil prices poses upside risk to the euro zone inflation outlook. The ECB said it stands ready to adjust all of its interest rates to ensure that inflation stabilizes towards its 2% medium-term target. Eurozone ...

ECB President Christine Lagarde explains the Governing Council's monetary policy decisions and answers questions from journalists at the Governing Council press conference held on Thursday, 23 July 2026 at 14:45 CEST in Frankfurt am Main.

Just weeks ago, the 23 July ECB meeting looked like a formality — the last stop before summer break, the one meeting no one would have missed had it been cancelled at the last minute. However, the new escalation in the Middle East and the renewed rise in energy prices have changed the picture once again. Instead of gradually transitioning into summer vacation mode and postponing any rate decision until after the summer, some ECB officials might actually be inclined to push more forcefully for another rate hike. Since the 11 June ...

The 25bp rate hike was pretty much a done deal prior to the meeting. So, the main question we, markets, and reporters had for Lagarde today was: “What’s next?” The ECB president did not answer that question explicitly, but that was to be expected. On balance, the statement was neutral. The ECB’s new “robustness check” supports our call for a follow-up hike in September. Lagarde emphasised that this 25bp rate hike was robust across multiple scenarios. Her comments suggest that some further tightening may be forthcoming, but the ECB ...