Former ECB member Smaghi writes in the FT that bond turbulence means it is time for the ECB to pause QT

Commentary from former policymakers carries no decision weight but has historically served as a trial balloon when it echoes unease inside the institution; the tell is whether sitting officials or council doves pick up the same framing in subsequent days. The underlying tension is familiar from past balance sheet runoff episodes: central banks have tended to slow or halt passive runoff when gilt-style or periphery spread stress raises the question of whether tightening is transmitting unevenly, and the ECB's specific fault line is the BTP-bund spread and the backstop tools built precisely to allow QT to proceed without fragmentation. A pause call of this kind effectively argues that runoff, not the rate path, is the instrument doing the damage, which separates it from a policy easing signal and confines the first-order read to the periphery curve and excess liquidity rather than to rate expectations. Worth noting that former members writing in the financial press have often been positioning for a debate already underway rather than starting one. The follow-ons are council commentary, any shift in runoff guidance at the next meeting, and whether spread behaviour validates the premise.