ECB Press Releases

Speech by Peter Praet, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, at the “la Caixa” Chair for Economics and Society conference, Madrid, 17 October 2018IntroductionToday I would like to reflect on the consequences of population ageing for economic policy making. It may sound at odds with the title of my remarks – “Economic policy making under uncertainty” – because demographic developments are to a large extent predictable over the short to medium run. Yet population ageing has pervasive...

Remarks by Luis de Guindos, Vice-President of the ECB, at the Ist Edition of the Prize José Echegaray of elEconomista, Madrid, 15 October 2018Despite the recent slow-down, economic growth in the euro area remains solid and broad-based, as confirmed by the latest data. Real GDP has expanded for 21 consecutive quarters, growing 0.4% quarter-on-quarter during the second quarter of 2018.In the first half of 2018, growth weakened from the very high rates of last year, reflecting lower exports. In...

SpeechSpeech by Sabine Lautenschläger, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB and Vice-Chair of the Supervisory Board of the ECB, Central Bank of Malta, Valletta, 12 October 2018Ladies and gentlemen, It is an honour to be here and to join in celebrating a birthday! This year, the Central Bank of Malta turns fifty. And throughout these past fifty years, it has helped Malta to navigate the sometimes rough waters of the international monetary system. From the early days when it focused on...

Statement by Mario Draghi, President of the ECB, at the thirty-eighth meeting of the International Monetary and Financial Committee, Bali (Indonesia), 12 October 2018The euro area economy continues to expand in a broad-based manner, across countries and sectors, despite some moderation following its strong growth in 2017. The economy grew by 2.1% year-on-year in the second quarter of this year. It continues to exhibit a high level of capacity utilisation, and labour markets are tightening in...

of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank, held in Frankfurt am Main on Wednesday and Thursday, 12-13 September 20181. Review of financial, economic and monetary developments and policy optionsFinancial market developmentsMr Cœuré reviewed the latest financial market developments since the Governing Council’s previous monetary policy meeting on 25-26 July 2018. Heightened volatility had been observed in the currencies of some emerging market economies, especially Argentina and...

Speaking points by Yves Mersch, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, at the MNI Connect Roundtable, Singapore, 10 October 2018The euro area economy is currently experiencing a broad-based economic expansion. Although growth moderated somewhat in the first half of this year, following several strong quarters in 2017, we expect the expansion to continue at a pace slightly above potential in the period ahead. At the same time, risks relating to increased global protectionism and...

PRESS RELEASE9 October 2018European Commission staff, in liaison with staff from the European Central Bank, visited Madrid from 4 to 5 October for the tenth post-programme mission to Spain. Staff from the European Stability Mechanism participated in the meetings in the context of its Early Warning System. The Spanish banking sector continues to enjoy overall comfortable solvency and liquidity. Its profitability has also improved thanks to the decline of loan-loss provisions related to the...

Lectio magistralis by Luis de Guindos, Vice-President of the ECB, opening the XXIX Edition of the Masters Programme in European Union law of the University Carlos III of Madrid, 5 October 2018The crisis, its aftermath and the road to recoveryThis autumn marks ten years since the start of the global financial crisis. It was a seismic event that laid bare a number of weaknesses in the international financial system – and in the oversight of that system. In its wake, it also revealed profound...

Speech by Benoît Cœuré, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, at Les Champs du Possible, Châteaudun, 4 October 2018Presentation slidesIt is a great pleasure to be here in Châteaudun and have the opportunity to exchange views with you. The ECB Governing Council, which sets monetary policy for the euro area, benefits from such dialogue in two very important ways.[1]The first is that it enriches our understanding of the state and the drivers of the economy. Earlier today, I had the...

Keynote speech by Yves Mersch, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, at the Latvijas Banka conference “Payments in the 22nd century: future starts today?”, Riga, 3 October 2018Predicting what payments will look like in the 22nd century is perhaps better left to science fiction writers than to central bankers. Still, at least one thing I can be sure of is that payments will be instant or cash-like. And we don’t need to wait for the 22nd century to see this happen. Non-cash instant payments...