ECB: No major announcement likely - Westpac

The market has continued to speculate over a near-term change in the stance of policy by the ECB in recent months, but analysts at Westpac suggest the reality is that no announcement is likely until at least September.

Key Quotes

“Optimism in the region is unquestionably strong and this has supported robust gains in the Euro. The reality is that no announcement is likely until at least September, when the ECB's next set of forecasts will be released. The actual stance of policy wont change until the beginning of next year. During 2018, the pace of asset purchases will be curtailed, but only slowly.’

“In terms of the key themes, the focus for post-meeting communications will be on: underutilisation of labour and associated weak wages growth; consequent expectations for core inflation; and the balance of activity growth between consumption and investment.”