Christine Lagarde: ECB press conference - introductory statement Introductory statement by Ms Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank, and Mr Luis de Guindos, Vice-President of the European Central Bank, Frankfurt am Main, 16 December 2021. * * * Good afternoon, the Vice-President and I welcome you to our press conference.
The euro area economy continues to recover and the labour market is improving, helped by ample policy support. Growth is moderating but we expect activity to pick up again strongly in the course of next year. The latest pandemic wave and the Omicron variant have prompted some countries to re-introduce tighter restrictions. Energy prices have gone up significantly.