Draghi’s calls for publication of ECB minutes could help us unravel what’s going on
European Central Bank (ECB) president Mario Draghi has told German newspaper that he wants to publish ECB minutes. A rough translation of his comments:
"I consider this a necessary next step, therefore the ECB Executive Board to the Governing Council is a proposal. submit for discussion and decision, "he told the Süddeutsche Zeitung.
While the ECB has notionally discussed improving transparency, this step might actually help to move towards a more accountable central bank.
In other areas, such as explaining how the controversial Outright Monetary Transactions (OMT) measure would work, Draghi has been more evasive.
Right now Draghi can tell us that the ECB is making unanimous decisions – but we have no idea how long the subjects have been discussed before a consensus is reached.
Seeing these minutes will help us unravel what's going on, and this step is a long time coming. The ECB's Jorg Asmussen and Benoit Coeure have previously called for this change, so it's now probably a done deal.