{"id":10089,"date":"2014-06-08T12:32:48","date_gmt":"2014-06-08T16:32:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pgm-blog.com\/?p=10089"},"modified":"2014-06-08T12:32:48","modified_gmt":"2014-06-08T16:32:48","slug":"the-ecb-sets-negative-interest-rates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pgmcapital.com\/nl\/the-ecb-sets-negative-interest-rates\/","title":{"rendered":"The ECB sets Negative Interest Rates"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.pgm-blog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/ecb.si_.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-10096\" src=\"http:\/\/www.pgm-blog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/ecb.si_.jpg\" alt=\"ECB\" width=\"300\" height=\"285\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.pgm-blog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Dhragi.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-10094\" src=\"http:\/\/www.pgm-blog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Dhragi.jpeg\" alt=\"Dhragi\" width=\"200\" height=\"145\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Dear <strong>PGM Capital<\/strong> blog readers.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #424858;\">At its monetary policy meeting, o<\/span>n Thursday, June 5th, the European Central Bank (ECB) announced that it <span style=\"color: #222222;\">has cut two key interest rates:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #222222;\">It reduced its main interest rate, the refinancing rate, from a record low of 0.25 percent to 0.15 percent.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #222222;\">More drastically, it also cut the rate it pays on money deposited by banks from zero to minus 0.1 percent.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"story-body-text story-content\" data-para-count=\"45\" data-total-count=\"45\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Furthermore, Draghi said the ECB would cease sterilizing the liquidity injected from its Securities Markets Program, which involved the purchase of bonds from troubled &#8220;peripheral&#8221; euro zone countries.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Let&#8217;s look at each measure in turn:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">CUTTING THE ECB REFINANCING RATE:<\/span><br \/>\n<\/strong>The ECB&#8217;s &#8220;refi rate&#8221;, as it is known, is\u00a0<span style=\"color: #000000;\">the price that banks pay to borrow funds from the European Central Bank.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">By raising or lowering interest rates the ECB can exercise indirect influence over the interest levels that the banks apply to interbank transactions, business loans, consumer loans, mortgages and savings accounts, amongst other things. <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">During last Thursday meeting, the ECB dropped its rate by 10 basis points to 0.15 percent.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #666666;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Below table shows the change of interest rates by the ECB during the last 5 years.<\/span><\/p>\n<table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"2\">\n<tbody>\n<tr class=\"tableheader\" style=\"font-weight: bold; color: #666666;\">\n<td>\u00a0<span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Change date<\/span><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Percentage<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"tabledata1\" style=\"color: #666666;\">\n<td style=\"text-align: left;\">\u00a0<span style=\"color: #000000;\">June 05 2014<\/span><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">0.150\u00a0%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"tabledata2\" style=\"color: #666666;\">\n<td><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0November 07 2013<\/span><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">0.250\u00a0%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"tabledata1\" style=\"color: #666666;\">\n<td><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0May 02 2013<\/span><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">0.500\u00a0%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"tabledata2\" style=\"color: #666666;\">\n<td><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0July 05 2012<\/span><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">0.750\u00a0%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"tabledata1\" style=\"color: #666666;\">\n<td><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0December 08 2011<\/span><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">1.000\u00a0%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"tabledata2\" style=\"color: #666666;\">\n<td><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0November 03 2011<\/span><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">1.250\u00a0%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"tabledata1\" style=\"color: #666666;\">\n<td><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0July 07 2011<\/span><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">1.500\u00a0%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"tabledata2\" style=\"color: #666666;\">\n<td><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0April 07 2011<\/span><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">1.250\u00a0%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"tabledata1\" style=\"color: #666666;\">\n<td><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0May 07 2009<\/span><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">1.000\u00a0%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"tabledata2\" style=\"color: #666666;\">\n<td><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0April 02 2009<\/span><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">1.250\u00a0%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"> Below charts shows respectively the ECB refi rates during the last 12 months and 15 years.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_10101\" style=\"width: 322px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.pgm-blog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/gr-cb-chart-11-1001.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10101\" class=\"wp-image-10101 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/www.pgm-blog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/gr-cb-chart-11-1001.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"312\" height=\"180\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-10101\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">ECB &#8211; interest rates April 2013 &#8211; May 2014<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_10102\" style=\"width: 322px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.pgm-blog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/gr-cb-chart-12-1001.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10102\" class=\"wp-image-10102 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/www.pgm-blog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/gr-cb-chart-12-1001.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"312\" height=\"180\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-10102\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">ECB Interest rate 1999 &#8211; May 2014<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Below table shows the comparison of <span style=\"color: #000000;\">current interest rates of a large number of central banks including the ECB.<\/span><\/p>\n<table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td align=\"right\">\n<table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"2\">\n<tbody>\n<tr class=\"tableheader\" style=\"font-weight: bold; color: #666666;\">\n<td>\u00a0<span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Central bank interest rate<\/span><\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Region<\/span><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Percentage<\/span><\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Date<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"tabledata1\" style=\"color: #666666;\">\n<td><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0<a style=\"color: #ff9900; text-decoration: underline;\" title=\"United States FED Federal Funds Rate - American central bank\u2019s interest rate\" href=\"http:\/\/www.global-rates.com\/interest-rates\/central-banks\/central-bank-america\/fed-interest-rate.aspx\">FED interest rate<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"color: #000000;\">United States<\/span><\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: right;\" align=\"center\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">0.250\u00a0%<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"color: #000000;\">12-16-2008<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"tabledata2\" style=\"color: #666666;\">\n<td><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0<a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" title=\"RBA Official Cash Rate - Australian central bank\u2019s interest rate\" href=\"http:\/\/www.global-rates.com\/interest-rates\/central-banks\/central-bank-australia\/rba-interest-rate.aspx\">RBA interest rate<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Australia<\/span><\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: right;\" align=\"center\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">2.500\u00a0%<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"color: #000000;\">08-06-2013<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"tabledata1\" style=\"color: #666666;\">\n<td><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0<a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" title=\"BACEN SELIC rate - Brazilian central bank\u2019s interest rate\" href=\"http:\/\/www.global-rates.com\/interest-rates\/central-banks\/central-bank-brazil\/bacen-interest-rate.aspx\">BACEN interest rate<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Brazil<\/span><\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: right;\" align=\"center\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">11.000\u00a0%<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"color: #000000;\">04-02-2014<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"tabledata2\" style=\"color: #666666;\">\n<td><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0<a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" title=\"BoE Official Bank Rate - British central bank\u2019s interest rate England\" href=\"http:\/\/www.global-rates.com\/interest-rates\/central-banks\/central-bank-england\/boe-interest-rate.aspx\">BoE interest rate<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Great Britain<\/span><\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: right;\" align=\"center\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">0.500\u00a0%<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"color: #000000;\">03-05-2009<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"tabledata1\" style=\"color: #666666;\">\n<td><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0<a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" title=\"BOC key interest rate - Canadian central bank\u2019s interest rate\" href=\"http:\/\/www.global-rates.com\/interest-rates\/central-banks\/central-bank-canada\/boc-interest-rate.aspx\">BOC interest rate<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Canada<\/span><\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: right;\" align=\"center\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">1.000\u00a0%<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"color: #000000;\">09-08-2010<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"tabledata2\" style=\"color: #666666;\">\n<td><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0<a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" title=\"PBC central bank base interest rate - Chinese central bank\u2019s interest rate\" href=\"http:\/\/www.global-rates.com\/interest-rates\/central-banks\/central-bank-china\/pbc-interest-rate.aspx\">PBC interest rate<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"color: #000000;\">China<\/span><\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: right;\" align=\"center\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">6.000\u00a0%<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"color: #000000;\">07-06-2012<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"tabledata1\" style=\"color: #666666;\">\n<td><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0<a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" title=\"ECB refi rate - European Central Bank\u2019s interest rate\" href=\"http:\/\/www.global-rates.com\/interest-rates\/central-banks\/european-central-bank\/ecb-interest-rate.aspx\">ECB interest rate<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Europe<\/span><\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: right;\" align=\"center\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">0.150\u00a0%<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"color: #000000;\">06-05-2014<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"tabledata2\" style=\"color: #666666;\">\n<td><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0<a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" title=\"BoJ overnight call rate - Japanese central bank\u2019s interest rates\" href=\"http:\/\/www.global-rates.com\/interest-rates\/central-banks\/central-bank-japan\/boj-interest-rate.aspx\">BoJ interest rate<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Japan<\/span><\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: right;\" align=\"center\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">0.100\u00a0%<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"color: #000000;\">10-05-2010<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"tabledata1\" style=\"color: #666666;\">\n<td><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0<a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" title=\"CBR refinancing rate - Russian central bank\u2019s interest rate\" href=\"http:\/\/www.global-rates.com\/interest-rates\/central-banks\/central-bank-russia\/cbr-interest-rate.aspx\">CBR interest rate<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Russia<\/span><\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: right;\" align=\"center\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">7.500\u00a0%<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"color: #000000;\">04-25-2014<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"tabledata2\" style=\"color: #666666;\">\n<td><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0<a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" title=\"SARB repo rate - South African central bank\u2019s interest rate \" href=\"http:\/\/www.global-rates.com\/interest-rates\/central-banks\/central-bank-south-africa\/sarb-interest-rate.aspx\">SARB interest rate<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"color: #000000;\">South Africa<\/span><\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: right;\" align=\"center\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">5.500\u00a0%<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"color: #000000;\">01-29-2014<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><strong style=\"font-size: 13px;\"><br class=\"Apple-interchange-newline\" \/><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">NEGATIVE INTEREST RATES:<\/span><br \/>\n<\/strong>Negative interest rates are exactly what they sound like \u2013 depositing money actually attracts a charge rather than earning interest.<\/p>\n<p>In this case, the negative rate is applied when Europe&#8217;s commercial banks deposit with the ECB.<\/p>\n<p>The idea of this is that the banks will not deposit any more than necessary with ECB and instead will lend the money, or invest in more profitable activities with a higher return.<\/p>\n<p>The reasons why the ECB has chosen to apply negative interest rates is mainly due to the fact that inflation in the Eurozone has fallen far below their 2 percent target.<\/p>\n<p>Secondly unemployment remains high in much of the continent, and growth sluggish. Central banker\u2019s usual answer to that set of problems is simple:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>Cut interest rates. <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>But with the ECB already paying zero percent on deposits that banks park with it, the only way to cut rates further is to go into negative territory.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.pgm-blog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/negative-rates.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-10118 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/www.pgm-blog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/negative-rates.jpeg\" alt=\"negative rates\" width=\"282\" height=\"178\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">\u20ac400 BILLION IN NEW LOANS:<\/span><br \/>\n<\/strong>These are low interest, long term refinancing loans (TLTROs)\u00a0to boost lending in the &#8220;real economy&#8221;. They are only available to the non-financial sector and exclude household mortgages.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #000000;\">They are also substantial: from March 2015, all banks will be able to lend up to three times their quarterly net lending to the non-financial sector in the eurozone.<strong><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #000000;\">In essence, the TLTRO(<span style=\"color: #3c3c3c;\">(Long Term Refinancing Operation)<\/span>\u00a0is a cheap loan to banks that they have to lend to specific sectors of the real economy &#8211; a lot of small and medium businesses, and not in the financial sector or household mortgages. The loan matures in 2018, but banks who do not lend sufficient cash to the correct sectors will be required to pay it back in 2016, two years early.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #000000;\">Below chart shows the\u00a0\u20ac400 billion per Eurozone country:<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #000000;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.pgm-blog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Screen-Shot-2014-06-06-at-13.28.38.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-10120\" src=\"http:\/\/www.pgm-blog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Screen-Shot-2014-06-06-at-13.28.38.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"384\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-style: inherit;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">ENDING STERILISATION:<\/span><br \/>\n<\/span><\/strong>This is the most complicated policy change. Since 2010 the ECB has conducted a &#8216;sterilisation&#8217; program. Instead of simply pumping liquidity into the market like the US, UK \u00a0and Japanese central banks, the ECB chose to offset its purchases to keep the overall money supply stable.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">It did this by offering banks interest bearing deposits equal to the amount of bonds it held each week, thus stabilising the money supply. For every government bond the ECB bought from one the the &#8216;PIGIS&#8217; countries (Portugal, Ireland, Greece, Italy and Spain), it tried to withdraw an equal amount from banks through these interest bearing deposits<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #000000;\">The policy also \u00a0meant that the ECB could claim it wasn&#8217;t quantitative easing because the money supply remained stable.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong style=\"color: #0000ff;\">PGM CAPITAL COMMENTS:<br \/>\n<\/strong>First there was ZIRP (\u201cZero Interest-Rate Policy\u201d), now get ready for NIRP ( \u201cNegative Interest-Rate Policy\u201d).<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #000000;\">The ECB will charge an interest rate of -0.1 percent to banks wishing to store euros within central bank vaults. Domestically, the intention is to prod banks into lending money to businesses as opposed to buying government bonds.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #000000;\">Internationally, the intention is to cause depreciation of the Euro relative to other currencies to increase the competitiveness of European exporters.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #000000;\">Only the &#8220;<a title=\"Danmarks Nationalbank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.nationalbanken.dk\/en\/Pages\/default.aspx\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Danmarks Nationalbank<\/strong><\/a>&#8221;\u00a0had previously instituted negative interest rates back in 2012. It is important to note that Denmark\u2019s economy didn\u2019t move drastically in either direction as a result.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #000000;\">Even the Keynesians fear the reality of near zero interest rates, something that is referred to as a\u00a0liquidity trap. Whether you believe in the power of\u00a0liquidity preference\u00a0or\u00a0time preference, the ECB\u2019s move tells us something about the current state of the world economy.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #000000;\">As has been previously stated, depreciation of the Euro versus other stores of value was to be expected and can be seen as a second leg of the currency war, which went into high gear, since the Japanese government has devalued the JPY in the last two years with approx. 29 percent against the Euro as can be seen from below chart.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #000000;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.pgm-blog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Screen-Shot-2014-06-08-at-1.43.50-PM.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-10139\" src=\"http:\/\/www.pgm-blog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Screen-Shot-2014-06-08-at-1.43.50-PM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"209\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #000000;\">In the immediate aftermath of the ECB\u2019 announcement the price of gold\u00a0jumped 1 percent.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #000000;\">There\u2019s no doubt in our mind that more and more individuals within the Eurozone and around the world are realising that Gold and other precious metals represent freedom from the ECB and other Central Banks.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c29;\">Until next week,<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c29;\"><a style=\"color: #807d7a;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.pgm-blog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Suriname-Times-foto.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-9925 \" src=\"http:\/\/www.pgm-blog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Suriname-Times-foto-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"Suriname Times foto\" width=\"87\" height=\"87\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #2c2c29;\">Eric Panneflek<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #000000;\">\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; Dear PGM Capital blog readers. At its monetary policy meeting, on Thursday, June 5th, the European Central Bank (ECB) announced that it has cut two key interest rates: It reduced its main interest rate, the refinancing rate, from a record low of 0.25 percent to 0.15 percent.\u00a0 More drastically, it also cut the rate<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pgmcapital.com\/nl\/the-ecb-sets-negative-interest-rates\/\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,8,10,11,19,12,13,15,16,22,1,18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10089","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commodities","category-debt-crisis","category-eric-panneflek","category-euro","category-financial-news","category-inflation","category-market-volatility","category-pgm-capital","category-precious-metal","category-the-week-in-review","category-uncategorized","category-world-economic-outlook"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pgmcapital.com\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10089","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pgmcapital.com\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pgmcapital.com\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pgmcapital.com\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pgmcapital.com\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10089"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.pgmcapital.com\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10089\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pgmcapital.com\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pgmcapital.com\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10089"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pgmcapital.com\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}