In the period from February to April 2001, the three-months average of the annual growth rates of M3 adjusted for holdings by residents outside the euro area of money market fund shares was 4.6%, which roughly corresponds to the reference value of 4.5%. Although credit aggregate figures remained dynamic, some slowdown has also been observed in their case. -  in addition, there is now clear evidence that M3 figures are distorted upwards by non-euro area residents’ purchases of negotiable paper included in M3. This distortion has become more sizeable recently and can roughly be estimated to around half a percentage point. All in all, information gathered from the first pillar pointed out that there were less risks to price stability over the medium-term emanating from monetary developments. As regards the second pillar of the ECB monetary policy strategy, upward risks to price stability over the medium-term also have diminished somewhat. Still, HICP growth rate has accelerated on a year-on-year basis in April to 2.9% and possibly the figure for May will not be very good. But these developments mainly seem to be generated by temporary factors that should substantially diminish over next 12 months to permit inflation to go back below the level of 2% which is our ceiling for the definition of price stability. However, evidence as well as global uncertainties regarding the international context also require continuous monitoring of growth trends and wage developments.
Christian Noyer: “Towards Retail Payments 2.0: The New Security Challenges” Opening speech by Mr Christian Noyer, Governor of the Bank of France and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bank for International Settlements, at the conference “Towards Retail Payments 2.0: The New Security Challenges”, Paris, 22 October 2014. *  *  *  Ladies and gentlemen, I am delighted to open this conference today, dedicated to the work of the Secure Pay forum and to the new security challenges that lie ahead for retail payments. On behalf of the European Central Bank and of the Banque de France, I would like to welcome you all in Paris, and thank you for accepting our invitation to participate to this event. All the authorities that have an interest in the area of security at national and European level are represented today together with the major stakeholders of the private sector. I have no doubt that this will favor fruitful debates and a comprehensive overview of major challenges and issues regarding the security of retail payments. This conference organized here in Paris illustrates the continuous support that the Banque de France has been providing to the Secure Pay forum from the very beginning, in order to promote the best practices in the field of security for retail payments in Europe. This support has its roots in the Banque de France’s mandate which, since 2001, explicitly requires that we ensure the safety of cashless payments.