ECB Press Releases

Panel remarks by Sabine Lautenschläger, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, at the Network for Greening the Financial System Conference, in Paris, France, 17 April 2019The financial community’s most important action with regard to climate change has happened in the last few years: many stakeholders in the financial industry, and central bankers, too, have realised that climate change is not an issue for next century. It’s an issue for now, and it’s a topic not only for other sectors but...

April 2019External communicationDisclosure of Eurosystem income figures related to the Securities Markets ProgrammeOn 22 March 2019 the Governing Council approved the publication on the ECB’s website of the ECB Feedback on the input provided by the European Parliament as part of its resolution on the ECB Annual Report 2017. As part of this publication, the Governing Council decided to disclose the Eurosystem Securities Markets Programme (SMP) income on the Irish, Greek, Spanish, Italian and...

Statement by Mario Draghi, President of the ECB, at the thirty-ninth meeting of the International Monetary and Financial Committee, Washington, D.C., 12 April 2019The euro area economy expanded at a slower pace in 2018, following robust growth in the previous year. The economy grew by 1.9% in year-on-year terms, marking a sizeable moderation in the pace of economic expansion. While there are signs that some of the idiosyncratic domestic factors dampening growth are fading, global headwinds...

PRESS RELEASE11 April 2019[updated on 11 April 2019 at 11:15 CET ]Inflation expectations stable for the longer term at 1.8%, but revised down over 2019-21Real GDP growth expectations revised down markedly for 2019, but unchanged for 2021Unemployment rate expectations broadly unchanged; further falls in unemployment expectedRespondents to the ECB Survey of Professional Forecasters (SPF) for the second quarter of 2019 reported point forecasts for annual HICP inflation averaging 1.4%, 1.5% and...

Mario Draghi, President of the ECB,Luis de Guindos, Vice-President of the ECB,Frankfurt am Main, 10 April 2019INTRODUCTORY STATEMENTJump to the transcript of the questions and answersLadies and gentlemen, the Vice-President and I are very pleased to welcome you to our press conference. We will now report on the outcome of today’s meeting of the Governing Council.Based on our regular economic and monetary analyses, we decided to keep the key ECB interest rates unchanged. We continue to expect...

PRESS RELEASE10 April 2019At today’s meeting the Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) decided that the interest rate on the main refinancing operations and the interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility will remain unchanged at 0.00%, 0.25% and -0.40% respectively. The Governing Council expects the key ECB interest rates to remain at their present levels at least through the end of 2019, and in any case for as long as necessary to ensure the...

PRESS RELEASE9 April 2019Credit standards broadly unchanged for loans to enterprises and tightened for housing loansFirms’ demand for loans stable, while housing loan demand continued to increaseECB’s asset purchases continue to support bank lending volumesCredit standards – i.e. banks’ internal guidelines or loan approval criteria – for loans to enterprises remained broadly unchanged (with a net percentage of -1%) in the first quarter of 2019, according to the April 2019 bank lending survey...

PRESS RELEASE9 April 2019Governing Council submits proposal for new Vice-Chair of the ECB’s Supervisory Board to European ParliamentCouncil of the European Union to give final approval after parliamentary voteThe Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) has proposed the appointment of ECB Executive Board member Yves Mersch as Vice-Chair of the ECB’s Supervisory Board. The ECB has informed the Chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON),...

Panel contribution by Yves Mersch, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, at The Outlook for the Economy and Finance conference, Cernobbio, 6 April 2019Competitiveness in EuropeTo increase competitiveness is the main driver for higher potential growth. Member states have to pursue politics and establish institutions that stimulate the dynamics of a competitive private sector. In most euro area countries potential growth has remained too low, however. Labour market rigidities and...

of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank, held in Frankfurt am Main on Wednesday and Thursday, 6-7 March 20191. Review of financial, economic and monetary developments and policy options Financial market developmentsMr Cœuré reviewed the latest financial market developments.As regards bond market developments, the fall in euro area ten-year overnight index swap (OIS) yields from early October 2018 to mid-February 2019 had recently reversed slightly. Notwithstanding the recent...