ECB Stands Pat On Monetary Policy, Albeit Sends Message

 | Sep 10, 2021 06:02AM ET

Analysts predicted two scenarios of the euro’s response to the ECB policy decisions. The euro could have either spiked or slumped. In practice, neither happened and the market got stuck in a trading range. The thing is that the European regulator caught the market off-guard. The ECB dropped a bombshell that the volume of the bond-buying program would be scaled down from €80 billion to €60 billion per month.

This is a definite move towards tightening monetary policy that should have triggered a rapid rally of the single European currency. The ECB Governing Council realizes perfectly well its responsibility so that any sharp moves could throw the market into a panic. The fact that the market is overwhelmed by a panic will inevitably hurt the economy. This is an unwanted scenario which the economy is not ready for. Experts have just spotted the green shoots of recovery following the pandemic-driven crisis.

Thus, the European regulator extended the term of monetary stimulus. The bottom line is that the ECB maintained settings of monetary policy unchanged that aroused a negative response from the market. Nevertheless, the euro kept its footing for the simple reason. The central bank sent a message that it is carefully monitoring the situation and is ready to introduce significant changes into monetary policy if necessary. Oddly enough, nobody expected such an outcome of the ECB policy meeting.