European Central Bank: Press conference – introductory statement Introductory statement by Mr Jean-Claude Trichet, President of the European Central Bank and Mr Lucas Papademos, Vice-President of the European Central Bank, Frankfurt am Main, 5 February 2009. *  *  *  Ladies and gentlemen, the Vice-President and I are very pleased to welcome you to today’s press conference.
We will now report on the outcome of today’s meeting of the Governing Council, which was also attended by Commissioner Almunia. On the basis of its regular economic and monetary analyses, at today’s meeting the Governing Council decided to leave the key ECB interest rates unchanged.