Lagarde Says ECB Needs to ‘Really Anchor’ Economic Recovery

1 / 2

Lagarde Says ECB Needs to ‘Really Anchor’ Economic Recovery

  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.
Carolynn Look
·2 min read
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

(Bloomberg) -- Sign up for the New Economy Daily newsletter, follow us @economics and subscribe to our podcast.

The European Central Bank and euro-area governments shouldn’t remove support from the region’s economy before seeing clear signs that a recovery is underway, President Christine Lagarde said.

“We have to take the economy through the pandemic and into a recovery phase, which has now started,” she said in an interview with Politico published Monday. “We need to really anchor the recovery. We always talk about inflation anchoring and we are not oblivious to that. But the recovery needs to be firm, solid and sustainable.”

Lagarde and her colleagues pledged last week to continue bond-buying at a faster pace through the third quarter, even as staff raised their forecasts for the euro-area economy. The ECB now sees risks for the region’s outlook as “broadly balanced,” a term used for the first time since December 2018.

Asked whether net buying under the pandemic emergency purchase program could come to a halt in March 2022, as currently planned, Lagarde pointed to its flexibility and better economic prospects.

“Our projection, and the design of the PEPP as we have it, seems to be heading in the right direction,” she said. “But as stated previously, it is far too early to debate these issues.”

The president also said she hopes her institution’s strategy review will conclude toward the end of the summer, but added that “whether it is at the end of the summer or in autumn is less important than the quality of the review and the solid consensus.” The review has been underway for the last one and a half years after being disrupted by the pandemic.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.

Recommended Stories

  • First lady meets with U.K. military families during G-7

    First lady Jill Biden spent part of Saturday meeting with British veterans, first responders and their families on the sidelines of the G7 summit, according to pool reports. Why it matters: The first lady has prioritized participating in military-focused events during the trip to highlight her Joining Forces initiative. Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free.Biden and former-first lady Michelle Obama led the program during the Obama administration. Biden said

  • Kayleigh McEnany met with furious reaction after claiming she never lied as White House press spokesperson

    McEnany says being a “woman of faith” and a mother prevented her from lying

  • US documents solve mystery of war criminal Tojo's remains

    Until recently, the location of executed wartime Japanese Prime Minister Hideki Tojo's remains was one of World War II's biggest mysteries in the nation he once led. Now, a Japanese university professor has revealed declassified U.S. military documents that appear to hold the answer. The documents show the cremated ashes of Tojo, one of the masterminds of the Pearl Harbor attack, were scattered from a U.S. Army aircraft over the Pacific Ocean about 30 miles (50 kilometers) east of Yokohama, Japan’s second-largest city, south of Tokyo.

  • Mother of Girls Allegedly Dumped at Sea by Vengeful Dad Bares Her Anguish

    InstagramIt’s the case that has rocked Spain, sparking protests, triggering an international manhunt, and drawing the attention of the royal family.A father allegedly drugged and killed his two little girls, put their bodies in duffel bags, and dumped their bodies at sea—all to spite their mother for getting a new boyfriend.Now, days after the remains of the older child were found off the Canary Islands, her devastated mom is speaking out, saying she hopes the deaths will not be in vain and will

  • Nicola Sturgeon under pressure over nursery graduations

    Nicola Sturgeon is under increasing pressure to allow parents to attend nursery "graduations" this week amid fury that they are banned while thousands of football fans can gather in Glasgow. The Tories and Labour demanded the First Minister reconsider her government's decision to stop parents attending the events, which usually see children delivering performances as they leave to start primary school. Meghan Gallagher, a Scottish Tory MSP, wrote to Ms Sturgeon proposing they be allowed to take

  • Netanyahu out as Israel marks end of an era

    In an improbable scenario few could have imagined, Iraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's record 12-year run ended on Sunday with parliament approving a so-called “government of change” led by nationalist Naftali Bennett.The newly-elected coalition – consisting of left-wing, centrist, right-wing and Arab parties - was voted in by a razor-thin margin, with little in common except the desire to unseat Netanyahu, underscoring its likely fragility.Addressing parliament before Bennett was sworn in, a combative Netanyahu indicated he isn’t exiting quietly, saying (quote), “If we are destined to go into the opposition, we will do so with our heads held high until we can topple it" – adding that that would happen (quote), "sooner than people think."Interrupted by non-stop shouts of "liar" and "shame" from Netanyahu loyalists in parliament, Bennett thanked the former prime minister for his "lengthy and achievement-filled service on behalf of the State of Israel."Netanyahu is Israel's longest-serving leader, having also served a first term from 1996 to 1999.But he was weakened by his repeated failure to clinch victory in four elections over the past two years, including a vote in March, and by an ongoing corruption trial, in which he has denied any wrongdoing.Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas also engaged in over a week of intense warfare last month, with both sides criticized for civilian casualties.Under the coalition deal, Bennett, an Orthodox Jew and tech millionaire, will be replaced as prime minister by centrist Yair Lapid, a popular former television host, in 2023.The new government largely plans to avoid sweeping moves on hot-button international issues such as policy toward the Palestinians, and to focus instead on domestic reforms.U.S. President Joe Biden congratulated Bennett, Lapid and the rest of the new cabinet and said he looked forward to working with Bennett to strengthen the "close and enduring" relationship between their two countries.

  • Taiwan says will be 'force for good' after unprecedented G7 support

    Taiwan will be a "force for good" and continue to seek even greater international support, the presidential office said, after the Chinese-claimed island won unprecedented backing from the Group of Seven of major democracies. The G7 leaders on Sunday scolded China over human rights in Xinjiang, called for Hong Kong to keep a high degree of autonomy and underscored the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. Taiwan presidential office spokesman Xavier Chang said this was the first time the G7 leaders' communique has stressed the importance of peace and stability in the strait and first time since its founding there was "content friendly to Taiwan", expressing deep thanks for the support.

  • Sen. Schumer calls on Trump’s former AGs to testify about data seizures

    Former attorneys general Bill Barr and Jeff Sessions should answer for the Trump Justice Department’s secret seizure of data about House Democrats, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Sunday. The New York Democrat called on the pair to testify before Congress, saying they should be subpoenaed if they refused to comply. Recent revelations have shown that the DOJ seized data from the ...

  • Top US diplomat says ‘China has to cooperate’ with investigation into Covid’s origins

    “The main purpose is to make sure that knowing what happened, why it happened, how it happened, we can put in place what’s necessary to prevent it from happening again or at least to mitigate the next outbreak,” Sec. Blinken told CBS on Sunday about the new inquiry

  • A Michigan man won a $2m lottery over ten years ago. His body was just found floating in a river

    Leroy Fick told Judge winning lottery ‘blew up’ in his face after helping out people who ‘turned on’ him

  • In China's Latest Outbreak, Doctors Say the Infected Get Sicker, Faster

    As the delta variant of the coronavirus spreads in southeastern China, doctors say they are finding that the symptoms are different and more dangerous than those they saw when the initial version of the virus started spreading in late 2019 in the central city of Wuhan. Patients are becoming sicker, and their conditions are worsening much more quickly, doctors told state-run television Thursday and Friday. Four-fifths of symptomatic cases developed fevers, they said, although it was not clear how

  • TV reporter who broke story of Bill Clinton tarmac meeting with Loretta Lynch dies of apparent suicide

    Christopher Sign broke story of tarmac meeting between Bill Clinton and AG Loretta Lynch during 2016 campaign between Hillary and Trump

  • Askew gets call from old team as emergency replacement

    Oliver Askew, like most race car drivers, never goes to a track without his helmet — one never knows when a team might need an emergency driver. Rosenqvist was hospitalized following a violent crash a day earlier; Askew drove 12 races last year in the No. 7 but was fired at the end of the season and replaced by Rosenqvist. The only thing he needed was the rest of his uniform: Askew was given the Arrow firesuit that Juan Pablo Montoya wore two weeks ago in the Indianapolis 500 and borrowed a pair of racing shoes from Alex Palou.

  • Biden says he's 'satisfied' with G7's final stance on China

    Biden says he's 'satisfied' with G7's final stance on China

  • China to G7 leaders: Days when world affairs are decided by a 'small group of countries are long gone'

    The remarks come after international leaders of the G7, including the US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan, met in England over the weekend.

  • Biden will warn Putin the US will respond 'forcefully' if Russia continues its 'reckless and aggressive actions,' Blinken says

    Tensions between Russia and the US have increased following a wave of cyberattacks that are believed to have originated in Russia.

  • The top 9 shows on Netflix this week, from 'Sweet Tooth' to 'Lucifer'

    "Lucifer" returned with the second half of its penultimate season and the new fantasy series "Sweeth Tooth is a hit with viewers.

  • The Astros say they stopped cheating by the 2017 postseason; evidence says otherwise

    An excerpt from 'Cheated' tells the deeper story of the 2017 Dodgers-Astros World Series and the lengths the Astros went to win a tainted World Series title

  • AOC: I'm 'inclined to say yes' that Justice Stephen Breyer should retire at the end of the Supreme Court's current term

    "I believe that we should protect our Supreme Court, and that that should absolutely be a consideration," Ocasio-Cortez told CNN.

  • Jeff Bezos is trusting Blue Origin's new rocket with his life. It's flown 15 times, but he'll have no pilot and possibly no spacesuit.

    About 1% of US human spaceflights have ended in a fatal accident, but the New Shepard rocket seems relatively safe.