ECB monetary policy meeting minutes preview – HSBC

In the view of analysts at HSBC, the ECB minutes is likely to provide fresh insights on the ECB Governing Council’s discussion on the recent euro appreciation and its impact on the growth and inflation outlook.

Key Quotes:

“As we had expected, the ECB did not make any change to rates, QE and forward guidance in the July meeting. No indication was given on when a decision will be made on the future of QE after December, other than it will be in the autumn ...”

“With regards to inflation, Mr Draghi reaffirmed that there is "no convincing sign of a pick-up in underlying inflation" in the eurozone and that "inflation is not where we want it to be", backtracking slightly from the statement he made at the end of June in Sintra - which caused some market concerns about a possible early tapering of QE - in which he mentioned that "deflationary forces had been replaced by reflationary ones".

“The minutes should give us more of a flavour of the discussion that took place within the Governing Council, including whether some members were concerned about the implications of the recent euro appreciation for growth, inflation, and the monetary policy outlook.”