Governor

The Bank of Spain says Pablo Hernández de Cos, its governor, is attracting serious backing as a candidate to lead the European Central Bank. The statement positions the Spanish official as a contender for the eurozone's top monetary policy job, and attention is now on which governments and European leaders will throw their weight behind him.

Federal Reserve official Michael Barr said the surge of investment and related demand tied to the artificial intelligence buildout is having a measurable effect on prices. His remarks add a new dimension to the inflation debate, suggesting massive spending on data centres and computing infrastructure may now be feeding through to costs, a factor policymakers and markets will weigh alongside tariffs and energy prices.

Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook warned that artificial intelligence is exerting inflationary pressure that is likely to persist in the near term. Her remarks suggest AI-driven demand, particularly for energy and computing infrastructure, is feeding into price pressures that policymakers must weigh. The comments add a new dimension to the debate over how the AI boom is affecting the US economy and interest rate decisions.

Hungary's central bank has paused its interest rate-cutting cycle, with Deputy Governor Barnabas Virag citing worsening market risks as the reason for the halt. The decision signals growing caution from policymakers as financial market conditions deteriorate, and investors are watching whether the hold becomes a prolonged stop or a brief pause in the easing cycle.

EU Ambassador Caspar Veldkamp held a meeting with Pan Gongsheng, Governor of the People's Bank of China, in Beijing. The talks come amid ongoing efforts by Brussels and Beijing to maintain dialogue on economic and financial matters. Details of the discussion, including specific topics or outcomes, have not been publicly disclosed so far.

California has moved to bar public officials from issuing memecoins, the joke- and trend-based cryptocurrencies that have repeatedly burned retail investors. The governor's office cited reports that roughly one million investors lost money in such schemes, framing the ban as an ethics measure to stop officials profiting from speculative tokens while in office.