(Finance) – War in Ukraine will probably have an impact on business activity and could re-trigger an increase in household savings, as already happened during the lockdowns. This is what the President of the ECB said, Christine Lagarde, during an event of the Institut Montaigne, in France.
According to the same report – who did not set up a live broadcast of the event, but only provides some insights via Twitter, while the ECB did not publish the President’s speech – Lagarde reiterated that the guidelines to which the institution will adhere on the monetary policy are flexibility, gradualness, leaving all options open. Since the start of hostilities, he added, there has been uncertainty about various raw materials, such as those related to energy but also wheat. It was also noted that previously the lockdown crisis and anti Covid measures had sent 5 million jobs up in smoke (presumably it referred to Europe) but that 5.5 million have been recreated. The President of the European Central Bank also noted the strong rises in the consumer goods durable and that the European Commission plans to develop EU strategic autonomy in three key sectors: robotics, drones and microprocessors.
As for the Banking Union and the Capital Markets Union “are fundamental objectives for the European Union, the current situation is favorable and this moment must be exploited to make progress “.
United States and Europe “they are in different phases of the economic cycle, “Lagarde said during the event, adding that relations with the American Fed are constructive, according to the Institute. While in the US the Fed has initiated and accelerated a restrictive policy cycle by raising interest rates and expecting several increases in the coming months, in the euro area the ECB has so far limited itself to speeding up the phase of reduction of the monetary stimulus, talking about “normalization” and not tightening and at the moment has not specified when, exactly, will raise rates.