ECB EXPANDS EMERGENCY QE, LENDING PROGRAMMES; LEAVES RATES ON HOLD

–Inflation Forecast Reduced for 2020; HICP Not Expected to Reach Target Before 2024 By Laurie Laird LONDON (MaceNews) – The European Central Bank Thursday expanded its emergency asset purchase and lending programmes at its latest policy meeting but left its key rates unchanged, raising questions about whether European borrowing costs have reached its so-called “reversal […]

STATUS CHECK: RUMOR CHECK – 2020 WILL END AT SOME POINT

WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – The following is Friday’s status check of developments in the U.S. that can influence economic, health and political outcomes. Wait, this just in. The Brexit talks have fallen apart. You don’t look surprised. Or even interested.  Someday a headline will flash. Brexit Talks Fall Together. Time is running out, after all. The […]

NOTED BOE DOVE ADOPTS MORE CAUTIOUS TONE ON NEGATIVE RATES

By Laurie Laird LONDON (MaceNews) – One of the more dovish Bank of England rate setters has adopted more cautious view toward sub-zero interest rates in the UK, stressing that the development of a Covid vaccine could herald a more-rapid-than-expected return to normal financing conditions.  Silvana Tenreyro, an external member of the Bank’s Monetary Policy […]

BOE OFFICIAL: FURTHER UK QE MORE EFFECTIVE WITH RATE CUT

—MPC External Member Saunders Also Sees Merit in Sub-Base Rate lLnding to Corporates By Laurie Laird LONDON (MaceNews) – Any expansion of quantitative easing will pack a greater punch if coupled with a rate cut, according to a key Bank of England official, who believes that borrowing rates in the UK have yet to reach […]

BOE RATE SETTER: COVID VACCINE DOES NOT REDUCE NEED FOR ASSET PURCHASES

— External MPC member Tenreyro makes strong case for negative interest rates in the UK By Laurie Laird LONDON (MaceNews) – The rapid development of a Covid vaccine could actually strengthen the case for expanded quantitative easing in the UK, with the benefits of a jab likely to lift the economy only gradually, a Bank of England […]

FED’S BULLARD: MON POLICY ‘GREAT’ BUT CAN ‘REDOUBLE’ QE EFFORTS IF NEEDED

–Fed Established Expectations No Rate Hikes ‘For A Long Time” –Fed, Tsy Have Flexibility To Deal Wtih Renewed Financial Stress if Needed –Economy Holding Up; Expect Above Trend Growth Q4, 1st half –Pandemic Doesn’t Necessarily Impede Output, Employment By Steven K. Beckner (MaceNews) – St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard Tuesday spoke hopefully […]

ECB’S SCHNABEL SUGGESTS EXTENDING TIME FRAME TO RETURN INFLATION TO TARGET

— Rate setter says the Bank has lost the “trust” of the public By Laurie Laird LONDON (MaceNews) — A key European Central Bank official Tuesday suggested adjustments to bank’s mandate, particularly the timing of returning inflation to target, while hinting that historically-loose monetary policy could become ever-less effective in stimulating economic growth. “It could […]

BOE SEES DIMINISHING MARGINAL RETURNS FROM ASSET PURCHASES

— External Rate Setters Lament Low Inflation, Raising Questions Over MPC Rift and Future Policy By Laurie LairdLONDON (MaceNews) – Top Bank of England rate setters agreed that quantitative easing will exert a diminishing influence on the UK economic recovery, raising questions about the tools available to the central bank as two external officials lamented […]

ECB’S LAGARDE: ASSET PURCHASES, CHEAP FINANCING ARE KEY TOOLS VS LATEST DOWNTURN

By Laurie Laird LONDON (MaceNews) –  Europe’s top central banker suggested that expanded asset purchases and enhancements to the Bank’s long-term finance scheme are best suited to counter the latest eurozone downturn, while urging national governments to keep the fiscal taps flowing. “While all options are on the table, the pandemic emergency purchase programme (PEPP) […]

BANK OF ENGLAND: INFORMAL, NON-TARIFF BARRIERS POSSIBLE IN NO-DEAL BREXIT

–MPC’s Ramsden Sees Risk of ‘Trade Friction’ on Top of WTO Tariffs By Laurie Laird LONDON (MaceNews) — Bank of England leaders have begun to break their silence over the possibility of a no-deal Brexit, with a top policy maker voicing fears that a lack of cooperation between trading nations could introduce informal barriers to […]