The Short-Term European Paper (STEP) initiative to develop a pan-European short-term paper market originated from the observation that the short-term securities market had been the least integrated money market segment since the introduction of the euro.
Given this development, the ECB staff have revised their April Eurosystem projection slightly upwards. Average growth is now expected to lie between 1.6% and 2.2% for 2004 and between 1.8% and 2.8% in 2005. As with any forecast, there are also downside risks. First and foremost, there is the oil price risk.