Governor of the Bank of France and European Central Bank policymaker Francois Villeroy de Galhau in a newspaper interview
- inflation below 2% target thus the ECB will have to keep interest rates "very low" and liquidity "very abundant"
- "And if we had to do more to fulfil the price stability mandate entrusted to us by the (EU) treaties, we will do more in all independence"
In the French media, main points via Reuters. Nothing of surprise from Villeroy, on script with central bankers in DMs around the globe.
Meanwhile, in other weekend news:
Spain will extend its lockdown (was due to end April 25) to May 9
- will make the shut-in slightly more flexible - perhaps varied by region or by group (may allow children more scope to play outside, for example).
The UK is canvassing another, additional, bailout scheme to channel bigger loans to companies on the brink of collapse (via Sky):
- Treasury canvassing ideas for pooling individual loans into securitisation vehicles which would be partly backed by the government or sold to the Bank of England
Turkey's coronavirus cases over 82,000 now, passing confirmed cases announced in Iran.
There are plenty of other number updates, you can keep track of all of these at this site:
