ECB Governor Council member François Villeroy de Galhau hinted that the central bank could launch fresh stimulus before IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde takes over Mario Draghi’s job as ECB President. He noted that “If we speak about monetary policy we have several Governing Councils to come, in the next month, including with Mario Draghi. And if and when needed, there must be no doubt about our determination to act and our capacity to act.”
Villeroy said policymakers look at the market, but emphasized “we are not market dependent, we are data dependent”. And, “if we look at the economic signals there is a continuing slowdown but there also significant wage increases … significant job creation on both sides of the Atlantic. So let us wait for our next Governing Council, and there are several to come, to assess the data and then to decide.”
Meanwhile, he also pointed to trade tensions as the biggest uncertainty and threat to the global economy. However, “it’s up to political leaders to reduce these uncertainties, which are sometimes self created. We cannot compensate for trade tensions.”
