Mario Draghi: ECB press conference – introductory statement Introductory statement by Mr Mario Draghi, President of the European Central Bank, and Mr Vítor Constâncio, Vice-President of the European Central Bank, Frankfurt am Main, 2 August 2012. *  *  *  Ladies and gentlemen, the Vice-President and I are very pleased to welcome you to our press conference. We will now report on the outcome of today’s meeting of the Governing Council, which was also attended by the Commission Vice-President, Mr Rehn. Based on our regular economic and monetary analyses, we decided to keep the key ECB interest rates unchanged, following the decrease of 25 basis points in July. As we said a month ago, inflation should decline further in the course of 2012 and be below 2% again in 2013. Consistent with this picture, the underlying pace of monetary expansion remains subdued. Inflation expectations for the euro area economy continue to be firmly anchored in line with our aim of maintaining inflation rates below, but close to, 2% over the medium term. At the same time, economic growth in the euro area remains weak, with the ongoing tensions in financial markets and heightened uncertainty weighing on confidence and sentiment. A further intensification of financial market tensions has the potential to affect the balance of risks for both growth and inflation on the downside. The Governing Council extensively discussed the policy options to address the severe malfunctioning in the price formation process in the bond markets of euro area countries.
Likewise, if banks incorporate the risks arising from the ecological transition into their analysis, they will become an engine for change: they will help financing reach those activities which, in addition to being economically profitable, contribute to the sustainable transformation of the economy. In turn, as a central bank we are also in the process of incorporating the environmental factor into the internal ratings used to evaluate the eligibility of banks’ collateral, and into the criteria used for taking own-portfolio investment decisions. Conclusions That brings me to the end of my address. The crisis has been severe and has had consequences at all levels. We have overcome its acute phase, but its legacy remains present. In response, regulation and supervision have changed radically, taking on board lessons we must never forget and equipping supervision with a set of tools necessary for preventing future crises. Society has also changed. Specific values, such as growing awareness about climate and inclusion, have become more important. The demands made of financial institutions, supervisors and the public authorities have increased, along with society’s financial knowledge. However, we must continue to boost education, as a tool for fomenting stability and balanced economic development in society. We must all take note of these changes and rise to the demands being made of us. What we do today will determine the type of future we will have. As Woody Allen said, the future is where we will be spending the rest of our lives, so we should all take an interest in it.