No rush to taper as ECB keeps QE easing bias - ING

According to the latest monetary policy decision, the ECB is staying on the dovish side and does not seem to be in a hurry to move towards tapering, notes Carsten Brzeski, Chief Economist at ING.

Key Quotes

“Given the experience of earlier meetings, the message of the 1.45pm CET release is the main message the ECB would like to give market participants to start their summer vacation with.”

“Not only did the ECB keep interest rates unchanged, but it also kept the language on QE unchanged. The key sentence to watch out for was and still is “the Governing Council stands ready to increase the programme in terms of size and/or duration”. In our view, this is a clear sign that the ECB does not want to pour more oil on the small taper tantrum fire seen in financial markets over the last few weeks.”

“We will hang on until the press conference, starting at 2.30pm CET, to look out for further hints about the ECB’s upcoming tapering plans during the Q&A session.”