ECB boss Lagarde had cell phones collected at the interest rate meeting

2023-09-17 07:57:48

She also reprimanded the monetary authorities because important data had been revealed before the upcoming interest rate decision, two people familiar with the matter told the Archyde.com news agency.

Already under Lagarde’s predecessor Mario Draghi, information from the circle of euro watchdogs was repeatedly leaked. The ECB declined to comment.

According to the insiders, members of the 26-member ECB Governing Council were asked to hand over their cell phones on Wednesday, the first day of the interest rate meeting. At that time, the monetary authorities were on the verge of nominating Bundesbank Vice President Claudia Buch for the vacant top position at the ECB banking supervision. The cell phones were only returned after Buch’s nomination was made public by the Euro Central Bank. Five years ago, when current ECB banking supervisor Andrea Enria was nominated for the post, the news reached the media before the ECB had officially announced it.

Lagarde took the measure after the Archyde.com news agency exclusively reported the day before that ECB staff had raised key inflation forecasts for the euro zone. These quarterly economic and inflation forecasts from the central bank are considered an important factor in interest rate decisions. The majority of economists had previously assumed that the ECB would decide to pause interest rates at the meeting this time after nine increases in a row. Many economists changed their assessment after the Archyde.com news and relied on an increase – and were right. According to the insiders, Lagarde criticized the leak of this information at the beginning of the two-day interest rate meeting. There were also critical voices among fellow council members.