TOUGH LOVE: Analysts expect the European Central bank will keep its most powerful monetary weapons muzzled when its 23-member governing council meets Wednesday in hopes of pushing Europe’s divided leaders into action.
THE OUTLOOK: No cut is expected in its benchmark interest rate, which has already at a record low of 1 percent. And there’s little prospect that it will serve up more cheap emergency credit for shaky banks, after handing out €1 trillion ($1.24 trillion) in December and February.
THE STRATEGY: The ECB’s head, Mario Draghi, wants politicians such as Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso to cooperate to fix what’s wrong with the euro at a summit June 28-29 in Brussels. The analysts say Draghi and the ECB might then be willing to help.
