Range trading has been a dominant feature of foreign exchange markets for more than a year now, especially for nearly all the major currencies.

The European Central Bank president has promised to listen more to policymakers but expects discipline in return, writes Balazs Koranyi, Francesco Canepa, and Frank Siebelt.

ECB president Christine Lagarde said her institution’s loose monetary policy is hitting savers and stoking asset prices, as she called on governments to do more to boost the economy.

The Governing Council is dominated by state central bank governors, but it is not fair to suggest that they will prioritise national interests if they have to reveal how they ballot when deciding monetary policy, says Barry Eichengreen.

This week, Mario Draghi exited as president of the European Central Bank (ECB), following one of the most dramatic periods in history for monetary policymakers.

President Mario Draghi’s final meeting as head of the ECB last week saw the Governing Council keep policy unchanged.

European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi has pledged indefinite stimulus to revive an ailing eurozone economy, tying the hands of his successor, Christine Lagarde, for years to come and sparking an immediate conflict with US president Donald Trump.

The ECB meeting last week provided a clear signal that the central bank was moving towards introducing new policy easing measures.

Ireland must do all it can to prevent being caught in Europe’s political slow lane as the leading contenders line up to run the EU and European Cental Bank, writes Kyran Fitzgerald.

The ECB could return to its major programme of buying bonds next year, possibly meaning interest rates would stay low for much longer, but only if Bundesbank chief Jens Weidmann doesn’t get his hands on the top job at the central bank.

Coming into 2019, apart from the obvious issue of Brexit, which remains unresolved, the biggest challenge to the small, open Irish economy was undoubtedly the grey clouds that were gathering over the global economy.

Bond yields have tumbled globally in the past month in the latest leg to the rally that commenced last autumn.

As expected, last week’s meeting of the ECB Governing Council concluded with no changes to interest rates from 0% for the refinancing rate and –0.4% for the deposit rate

An ECB move to inject more cheap funds into banks to boost a weakening eurozone economy has put the spotlight on the elevated costs of loans Irish banks charge households and businesses.

The ECB is unlikely to move interest rates significantly higher next year and any rate hike will be modest, spelling good news for tracker rate mortgages, Irish economists have said.

Minister Donohoe has put Mr Lane forward for the spot on the ECB's six-member executive board that is currently held by Belgium's Peter Praet, whose eight-year term expires on May 31.

Central Bank Governor Philip Lane is being tipped as a possible candidate for a top EU banking job.

The ECB is expected to wait until the fourth quarter to raise its deposit rate, later than thought just a month ago, according to economists who also said the chances of a eurozone recession have grown.

The ECB not only will fail to raise interest rates this year, but won’t move until mid-2020, well beyond the timing suggested by the bank’s policy guidance, money market pricing implies.

This week marks the 20th anniversary of the start of EMU--the European Economic and Monetary Union.

Last week’s December meeting of the ECB governing council concluded in line with expectations, with no changes to interest rates from their present levels of 0% for the refinance rate and –0.4% for the deposit rate.

Official national accounts data published by the CSO show that the economy had a very strong first half to the year. The underlying growth rate of the domestic economy is put at over 6% for the period, with strong rises in consumer spending, business investment and construction output.

The ECB won’t be deflected by the Italian political and budget drama and will raise interest rates next year, a economics firm has predicted.

The ECB still plans to dial back stimulus at the end of the year, but inflation may rise more slowly than earlier expected, ECB president Mario Draghi has said.

Banking in Ireland is not competitive and a “quasi-monopoly” operates in the country, the head of the ECB, Mario Draghi has said.