No shifts without no new projections
A report citing a participant says "there will not be any serious policy debate" at Thursday's meeting.
I find it strange that the ECB relies so heavily on economic projections to make decisions. An army of bureaucrats crunching numbers is a poor excuse for monetary policy when it's clear that a commodity collapse is going to drag down inflation.
But if that's the way the ECB wants to play it, then so be it.
The euro kicked a touch higher on the report but the idea that the ECB wants to wait and see has been clear.
What is more interesting in the report is that it says "there is no clear need for ECB President Mario Draghi to lay the groundwork for a subsequent policy move." That argues that the decision and press conference won't have an especially dovish slant, which would help the euro.
