European Central Bank Faces Questions Over Claim It Is “Well Positioned” Amid Uncertainty

An analyst said the European Central Bank’s repeated assertion that it is “well positioned” to deal with uncertainty is likely to be a key issue at President Christine Lagarde’s news conference. According to Jin10, analyst Horobin said the phrasing first appeared in the ECB’s March statement, issued after Iran was attacked. Horobin noted that the ECB’s statement released today offered little explanation for why the assessment still holds. Horobin added that in April the ECB partly attributed the view to economic resilience and to inflation being close to 2% before the crisis. He said Lagarde may be pressed to explain why the ECB continues to describe itself as “well positioned” despite changes in the situation, and what that implies for future policy.