Tag: Monetary policy

A determined Nicolas Sarkozy outshone his critics during the debate that followed his presentation of the French Presidency's priorities in the European Parliament on 10 July. In a skilled address, the French President accused those EU leaders who are reluctant to proceed with the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty of "cowardice". 

Despite the recent sharp cuts in US interest rates, the European Central Bank will remain focused on fighting inflation without modifying current rates, said ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet yesterday.

The Commission has played down expectations for the EU's economy in 2008 and 2009. Meanwhile, the European Central Bank has responded to the "continued uncertainty" on European financial markets following the US sub-prime mortgage crisis by announcing further cash injections, but said higher than expected inflation meant a cut in interest rates remained out of the question. 

Responding to questions from MEPs about the recent financial turmoil, ECB chief Jean-Claude Trichet and Commissioners McCreevy and Almunia highlighted the need to improve the transparency of financial markets rather than taking further regulatory action in order to avert similar crises in the future.

European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet has said that the bank is "not pre-committed" to raising interest rates, leading to speculation that an expected September rate hike may be off the cards.

During his first visit to Brussels, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said that he would refuse to "sell off" the interests of French agriculture in WTO negotiations and announced future proposals to revise eurozone governance.

In this policy paper by the Fondation Robert Schuman, Jean-Francois Jamet outlines the European Central Bank'a (ECB) monetary policy and argues that it can not be solely held responsible for sluggish growth rates in the eurozone.

Some economists* have recently been wondering whether the present appreciation in the CEEC’ currencies ought not to prompt a revision of the central banks’ inflation targets, which are considered too low, in particular in the Central European countries, says an article in the latest issue of MINEFI-DREE elargissement 's Revue Elargissement.

Eurostat released new inflation figures pointing to a rise in consumer prices of 2.4 per cent, up 0.5 percentage points on the previous month.

The European Central Bank raised interests rates by a higher-than-expected 0.50% to 4.25%.