ECB to remain on hold both in terms of rates and asset purchases with attention on the details - Rabobank

Analysts at Rabobank expects that after December’s commitment to keep the asset purchase programme in place until the end of this year, this week’s ECB meeting should bring no surprises with respect to both rates and the ECB’s pace quantitative easing – they expect both policy tools to remain unchanged and with no market expectations of a policy change either, attention will be on the details.

Key Quotes

“In terms of ‘headline’ policy, we expect the ECB to remain firmly on hold this week, both in terms of rates and its asset purchases.”

“Although risks are receding, we believe that it is too early for the ECB to change its risk assessment.”

“Equally, we expect no changes to forward guidance, despite calls from earlier GC members to reassess the ECB’s promise on rates.”

“There may be some discussion on the technical parameters of the asset purchases, but we believe that this week is too early for actual changes.”