Lagarde speech: Not seeing second round effects
Bitcoin Ethereum News Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank (ECB), explains the ECBs decision to leave key rates unchanged at the April policy meeting and responds to questions from the press. Key takeaways “Even if conflict ended tomorrow, energy impacts would still linger.” “Not seeing second round effects.” “Corp telephone survey suggests no significant wage increases.” 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