European Central Bank

The United States and the European Union can avoid recession and achieve a soft landing by bringing inflation down to an acceptable level, a U.S. central bank official said on Aug. 2.

"A soft landing is feasible in the U.S. and the EA [euro area]," St Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard during a speech at New York university.

The new tool being promoted to shield southern European countries as interest rates may rise "not need to be used if it is strong enough to persuade investors not to try it".

This is what the governor of the Bank of Greece and member of the Board of Directors of the European Central Bank, Giannis Stournaras, said in a televised interview with Bloomberg.

Finding the right monetary policy response to tackle soaring inflation is an "art," European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde has said.

"It is not a science," Lagarde said on June 29 at a panel at the ECB's annual central banking conference in Portugal.
"What we are doing there is an element of art," she said.

The European Central Bank confirmed on Thursday that it would end a long-running scheme to pour billions of euros into the Eurozone economy on July 1st by buying bonds and signaled a series of interest rate hikes as early as next month as it fights persistently high inflation.

The European Central Bank (ECB) is set to draw a line under its massive bond-buying stimulus program at a meeting on June 9, as inflation in the eurozone soars to all-time highs.

The American rating agency Standard & Poor's upgraded Greece's credit rating from grade BB to BB +, with a stable outlook, bringing the country just one step from the investment grade.

The special plan to keep Greek government bonds eligible for refinancing by the European Central Bank - even after the end of the emergency program in March 2022 - is being worked out by the ECB and, according to Bloomberg, may be approved in March by the Board of directors.

The European Central Bank will take its time to assess new data before tightening its monetary policy any faster, its president said on Feb. 7, amid fierce speculation that the bank would raise rates sooner than previously expected.

Soaring energy prices took eurozone inflation to its highest rate on record in November, official data showed on Nov. 30, challenging the European Central Bank's resistance to tightening monetary policy earlier than planned.

Inflation in the Eurozone reached a record 3.4% for the last 13 years in September, according to Eurostat data. This is an increase of 0.4% compared to August. Core inflation, excluding food, energy, alcohol and tobacco, rose to 1.9% from 1.6% in August. The European Central Bank (ECB) expects the rate to rise to 4 by the end of the year, which would exceed the bank's target twice.