European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde, while presenting at an Online Summit organised by the European Business Leaders' Convention, said that we probably have passed the lowest point of the crisis. Additional quotes: Still cautious because of the second wave of infections. Economic recovery will be a complicated matter. Recovery will be incomplete, maybe transformational. We have to use all available policy levers on monetary and fiscal front. This crisis is worse than the 2008-09 financial crisis. The ECB mandate is the same i.e. focus on price stability. The comments...
Some of the forces that held down U.S. economic growth last year have eased, but risks to the outlook remain, particularly from the coronavirus, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Tuesday. œWe are closely monitoring the emergence of the coronavirus, which could lead to disruptions in China that spill over to the rest of the global economy, Powell said, in testimony prepared for a House Financial Services Committee hearing later Tuesday. The Feds report to Congress on monetary policy noted fragility in Chinas corporate and financial sector that could leave it vulnerable...
Australia's central bank chief Philip Lowe signaled his board is firmly on hold for now, saying further cuts to the nation's already historically-low interest rate risk doing more long-term damage to the economy than the short-term benefit they would create. "While it's plausible that we can move toward our goals, at least right at the moment the risks have slightly tilted to outweigh the benefits," the governor told a parliamentary panel in Canberra Friday. œBut that could turn, particularly if the unemployment rate deteriorates. He warned of œsignificant areas of...
Reserve Bank of Australia's Governor Philip Lowe is speaking on "The Year Ahead" at the National Press Club, Sydney today. Markets are looking for further clarification since the RBS's rate decision yesterday and surprise optimism about the economic outlook which lifted AUD crosses through stops, triggering a huge bid in the Aussie. Lowe said on Wednesday that Australia's central bank would see a strong case for cutting its benchmark interest rate from current record lows if the unemployment rate moved higher and there was no progress in lifting inflation. However, the RBA says that the...
Australia kept interest rates unchanged Tuesday as the labor and property markets' strength gives the central bank room to wait and see how badly the economy will be hit by a slump in China's growth. Governor Philip Lowe kept the cash rate at 0.75% at the Reserve Bank's first meeting of 2020, as predicted by most economists and traders. The jobless rate falling in the final two months of 2019 kept the RBA sidelined, despite the impending hit from wildfires and now the coronavirus. The coronavirus œis having a significant effect on the Chinese economy at present. It is too...
The Bank of England on Thursday decided to hold interest rates at 0.75% by a 7-2 vote. Futures prices had been divided on whether the Bank of England would cut or not. While surveys of businesses had picked up since the Dec. 12 election, recent economic data had come in on the weaker side. "Policy may need to reinforce the expected recovery in UK GDP growth should the more positive signals from recent indicators of global and domestic activity not be sustained or should indicators of domestic prices remain relatively weak," the Bank of England said. The pound GBPUSD, gained ground after...
The most important data for the U.S. economy right now are the "medical metrics around the coronavirus pandemic, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Sunday night in broadcast remarks...
At its March monetary policy meeting on Tuesday, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) cut its official cash rate (OCR) by 25bps to a record low of 0.50%, as they weighed in the coronavirus outbreak...