Game changer? It appears there is a mutiny afoot in Europe as Reuters and Bloomberg report that a number (rumored to be between 7 and 10) central bankers are set to challenge ECB head mario Draghi's leadership style and question his decisions on quantitative easing. As Reuters reports, [6] bankers faulted his secretiveness and communication style making it hard for ECB to take bolder steps.
- NATIONAL BANKERS FAULT SECRETIVENESS AND COMMUNICATION STYLE
- SOME MEMBERS PLAN TO RAISE CONCERNS AT GOVERNORS DINNER
- DRAGHI KEPT AIDES IN DARK ON POLICY STEPS
- IRRITATION COULD MAKE IT HARD FOR ECB TO TAKE BOLDER STEPS
Via Reuters, [6]
National central bankers in the euro area plan to challenge European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi on Wednesday over what they see as his secretive management style and erratic communication and will urge him to act more collegially, ECB sources said.
The bankers are particularly angered that Draghi effectively set a target for increasing the ECB's balance sheet immediately after the policy-making governing council explicitly agreed not to make any figure public, the sources said.
"We specifically agreed at the meeting... not to put any numbers on the table," one central banker. "Draghi's reference to the balance sheet of 2012 irritated a lot of colleagues. So he has had to backtrack a bit ... to compensate."
"This created exactly the expectations we wanted to avoid," an ECB insider said. "Now everything we do is measured against the aim of increasing the balance sheet by a trillion (euros)... He created a rod for our own backs."
Even members of the ECB's executive board - the six-member inner circle that runs the bank - were not informed in advance about two key recent policy announcements, two sources said.
"Mario is more secretive... and less collegial. The national governors sometimes feel kept in the dark, out of the loop," said one veteran ECB insider.
...
At times, Draghi has appeared to pay little attention to national governors' comments in the monthly rate-setting meeting after chief economist Peter Praet and board member Benoit Coeure report on the economic situation and financial markets.
"He sits there with these three mobile phones in front of him and sometimes he’s sending text messages or going out to make or take phone calls," one source usually in the room said. On at least one occasion, a national governor has skipped his turn to speak because Draghi was not present.
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Stocks are not happy:
[7]
and peripheral bond spreads are cracking wider:
[8]
