Account of the monetary policy meeting of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank held in Frankfurt am Main on Wednesday and Thursday, 18-19 March 2026

16 April 2026

1. Review of financial, economic and monetary developments and policy options

Financial market developments

Ms Schnabel started her presentation by noting that the period after the Governing Council’s previous monetary policy meeting on 4-5 February 2026 could be divided into two distinct phases. In the first phase, up to the start of the war in the Middle East, the low-volatility and strong risk appetite environment had remained in place. In the second phase, when energy prices had surged in response to the war, volatility had increased in equity markets and especially in bond markets, and there had been sell-offs in both risk asset markets and bond markets.

Brent crude oil prices had surged above USD 100 per barrel to levels last seen after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Natural gas prices had…