Mario Draghi: Interview with Lithuanian business daily Verslo Zinios Interview by Mr Mario Draghi, President of the European Central Bank, with Verslo Zinios, conducted by Mr Dalius Simenas on 25 September 2014. *  *  *  The saying that “When America sneezes, Europe catches a cold” was absolutely true in the aftermath of the dramatic collapse of Lehman Brothers in the autumn of 2008. We are now seeing signs of a recovery in the United States and the United Kingdom, but are still not seeing any in the euro area. Does this worry you? What is missing? I am not sure I can agree with the last part. The euro area has, in fact, been recovering since the second quarter of 2013, when the economy returned to growth after six quarters of recession. It is true, however, that the recovery seems to have lost momentum recently: the flat GDP reading in the second quarter of 2014 was disappointing. According to the preliminary information received over the summer, economic conditions have been somewhat weaker than expected. Overall, however, we expect modest growth in the second half of the year and continue to expect euro area domestic demand to be supported by various factors. These include our accommodative monetary policy stance, favourable financing conditions and structural reforms, which should sustain private consumption and investment. At the same time, unacceptably high unemployment and continued weak credit growth are likely to curb the strength of the recovery.
4  BIS central bankers’ speeches