ECB – Benefits Canada.com

Lagarde: Recovery could be stop and go despite vaccine news

mschmit — Thu, 12 Nov 2020 06:53:34 +0000

European Central Bank head Christine Lagarde warned Wednesday that the economy could face a “bumpy,” “stop-start” recovery despite good news about vaccine development. The top central banker for the 19 European Union countries that use the euro currency said there was a risk that fearful consumers could drag out the rebound, and that governments and […]

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How a central bank’s policy can impact investments on the other side of the world

mschmit — Wed, 21 Oct 2020 05:55:28 +0000

How do the European Central Bank’s monetary-policy decisions influence corporate debt levels in the U.S.? The ECB’s purchasing of investment-grade, corporate, Euro-denominated bonds seemingly crowded Eurozone institutional investors out of such instruments and Eurozone investors increased their allocations to U.S. dollar corporate bonds soon after, according to a new paper by Kerry Siani, a PhD […]

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Europe’s central banker: Recovery risks losing momentum

mschmit — Mon, 19 Oct 2020 03:47:05 +0000

The head of the European Central Bank says the economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic “risks losing momentum” due to a second wave of infections and that more stimulus could be added if necessary. “The second wave of the pandemic in Europe, notably in France, and the resulting new restrictions are adding to the uncertainty […]

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Inflation slump in Europe could presage more stimulus

mschmit — Fri, 02 Oct 2020 03:37:20 +0000

Annual inflation in the 19-country eurozone sagged further below zero in September, bolstering expectations that the European Central Bank will add to its emergency stimulus efforts to help cushion the impact of the pandemic on the economy. The consumer price index was down 0.3 per cent in September, even lower than the minus 0.2 per […]

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Is it time for bond owners to shift how they view deficits and debt?

mschmit — Fri, 04 Sep 2020 03:40:20 +0000

While rising government deficits and debt are concerning for many bond owners, they should actually be more concerned that deficits aren’t big enough, said David Bezic, an independent economic consultant, during the Canadian Investment Review and Benefits Canada’s 2020 Plan Sponsor Week in mid-August. Many of the concerns around debt and deficits are founded on […]

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Fed takes emergency steps to slash rates and ease bank rules

mschmit — Mon, 16 Mar 2020 04:12:46 +0000

The Federal Reserve took massive emergency action Sunday to try to help the economy withstand the coronavirus by slashing its benchmark interest rate to near zero and saying it would buy $700 billion in Treasury and mortgage bonds. The Fed’s surprise announcement signalled its rising concern that the viral outbreak will depress economic growth in […]

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Coronavirus poses tough challenge for economic policymakers

mschmit — Thu, 27 Feb 2020 04:20:44 +0000

The fast-moving coronavirus isn’t just confounding health officials. It’s also bedevilling policymakers and central bankers who are struggling to assess the economic damage from an outbreak that’s reached 37 countries and territories, infected 80,000 people and killed 2,700 worldwide. They don’t know where or how fast the virus will spread. They can’t draw on clear […]

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Swedish central bank ends pioneering era of subzero rates

mschmit — Thu, 19 Dec 2019 03:50:11 +0000

Sweden’s central bank has ended a five-year experiment of keeping its benchmark interest rate below zero, a policy that other countries have also adopted to try to improve economic growth. The country’s central bank, called the Riksbank, said Thursday it had decided to raise its benchmark interest rate to zero from -0.25 per cent, where […]

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Lagarde: Eurozone growth is weak, stimulus working

mschmit — Mon, 02 Dec 2019 08:31:37 +0000

New European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said Monday that economic growth “remains weak” in the 19 countries that use the euro but gave no indication she is contemplating adding to the stimulus enacted by her predecessor, Mario Draghi. Lagarde said in her first regular appearance before the European Parliament that manufacturing companies were hardest […]

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Eurozone forecast for long period of weak economic growth

mschmit — Thu, 07 Nov 2019 04:58:17 +0000

The European Union’s executive branch has cut its growth forecasts for the 19-country eurozone for this year and next and warned that conditions could worsen in the face of an array of uncertainties. The European Commission said Thursday that the single currency bloc is expected to grow 1.1 per cent this year, down 0.1 percentage […]

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