It often takes many years of data to  BIS central bankers’ speeches  1  establish any degree of confidence in asserting a change in a trend. As a result, it should come as no surprise that I do not have an answer for the question whether we are facing a new normal.
First of all I would like to thank our host, Governor Mersch, and the staff of the Banque centrale du Luxembourg, for the invitation and for the generous hospitality offered to us. Allow me also to add that the Governing Council today held its 100th meeting since the establishment of the ECB on 1 June 1998.