• Shane O'Neill, Head of Interest Rate Trading at Validus Risk Management


• 03.02.2022 02:45 pm
#RiskManagement

Commenting on the ECB making no change to monetary policy, Shane O'Neill, Head of Interest Rate Trading for for Validus Risk Management, said: “After yesterday’s inflation print out of the EU, the highest recorded since the creation of the single currency, the pressure was on the ECB today. In line with market expectations, they have made no change to their policy and the associated statement is also virtually unchanged from a month earlier. Following on from a surprisingly hawkish Bank of England only 45 minutes earlier, attention now turns to President Lagarde’s press conference which some commentators expect to be a blockbuster event. Lagarde has been resolute in her stance that inflation in the bloc is transitory, but with central bankers around the world succumbing to inflationary pressures you must wonder – how long can she hold out? Pressure from Northern European nations, who are experiencing generationally high levels of inflation, won’t help. If Christine Lagarde manages to hold strong (rightly or wrongly) it could spell more trouble for the euro which has already lost almost 6% against sterling in the last year and over 6% against the dollar.”