Christine Lagarde was confirmed yesterday as the next President of the ECB, in a secret ballot in the European Parliament. She received 394 votes for, against 206 votes against and 49 abstentions. Mario Draghi will convene his last meeting with the Central Bank in October, after which he will hand over the reins.
The euro had a choppy day against the pound yesterday and is mixed this morning, despite Eurozone and German economic sentiment indices coming in better than expected, in a positive sign for the single currency zone.
The Netherlands has surprised onlookers by becoming one of the first respondents to the ECB’s call for greater government stimulus. Wopke Hoekstra announced yesterday afternoon tax cuts to the tune of €3 billion and will commit to an investment fund that locks in the Netherlands’ low rates for the future. It’s an unexpected move for a country that typically follows Germany’s conservative spending (or lack of spending) trends. Germany’s Finance Minister, Olaf Scholz, confirmed earlier this month that he would stick to the country’s ‘black zero deficit’ policy, although ‘many billions’ have since been promised to help boost the economy.
Today, we will see further important data for the eurozone, including construction output and inflation rates.
