Christine Lagarde: Hearing of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament Introductory statement by Ms Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank, at the ECON committee of the European Parliament, Brussels, 2 December 2019. * * * Madam Chair, Honourable members of the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee, Ladies and gentlemen, I am very happy to be back before this Committee for my first regular hearing as ECB President. I want to express my personal and sincere gratitude to this house for the support I received during the appointment process. And I look forward to a constructive and positive relationship between our two institutions going forward. The connection between the ECB and the European Parliament is especially valuable today as a means to reinforce trust in European institutions. In the euro area, support for the single currency has grown steadily in recent years, rising from a low of 62% in 2013 during the crisis to an all-time high of 76% today. Trust in the ECB has grown in that time as well – but its recovery after the crisis has been less dynamic.1 My predecessors at the ECB were alert to this and already acted to address the challenge. The ECB’s accountability practices have evolved2, as has its communication strategy.
Investment projects amounting to more than USD160 billion to be financed by the Gulf states in Asia have been announced since 2005 2 . In 2006 alone, mega-deals 3 involving corporate acquisitions and real estate purchases from the Gulf to Asia, are estimated to total more than USD18 billion, including multi-billion dollar IPO purchases in financial institutions in China, large oil refineries and telecom companies. The value of such investments are expected to increase to between USD20-30 billion in 2007. For economic regions with high savings and surpluses such as Asia and the Middle East, the challenge is to recycle part of these surplus funds to productive investments in the region. The supply of savings in Asia and the Middle East is by far higher than in any other part of the world. Savings rates here in Asia are expected to remain in the region of 30-40% of GDP for some years to come. 1  The Gulf Cooperation Council represents Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and Kuwait  2  "A route to riches on the new Silk Road", Financial Times, 21 Dec 2006  3  Worth more than USD1 billion  BIS Review 31/2007  1  Similarly, savings in the Middle East economies have been rising in the recent decade and is expected to average about 30-35% of GDP in the coming years. In 2006, the current account surpluses as percentage of GDP for Asia and the Middle East were about 5% and 23% respectively 4 .