and the banks got into trouble. in that situation, the ecb pledged to do “ whatever it takes within its mandate ” to preserve the euro. it announced that it would stand ready to buy government bonds of specific countries. this programme was termed omt, short for outright monetary transactions. it was subject to strict conditions, of course ; i will spare you the details. right from the start, the omt programme was described as a game changer. it restored trust in the euro area and, as a result, there was actually no need to activate it. but the euro area was still caught in a recession, and growth slowed even further. the crisis had entered its third phase. as the economy slowed down, inflation fell. to revive it, the ecb cut interest rates twice in 2013, to a new low of 0. 25 %. but, in the following year, inflation declined further and even fell below 0 % in december 2014. among other things, this was due to a fall in oil prices. it became clear that the ecb needed to do more. it had to prevent low inflation from becoming entrenched or even turning into deflation. but what could be done? with interest rates close to zero, the standard tools were only of limited use. the ecb ’ s governing council thus decided to take three non - standard measures. first, it broke through the zero lower bound of interest rates. in june 2014, the deposit rate was set to – 0. 10 %. this gave banks an incentive to stop depositing their money at the ecb and pushed them to lend it to the real economy instead. at the same time, the ecb ’ s decision made clear to the markets that interest rates can fall below zero. markets adjusted their expectations about future interest rates, and this caused long - term interest rates to fall as well. second, the ecb provided longer - term refinancing to banks at very low rates. the amount that banks can borrow is linked to their loans to private companies and households. this should stimulate bank lending to the real economy, and make it easier for private companies and consumers to take out loans. and third, the ecb used the tool of quantitative easing. since march 2015, it has bought more than €2 trillion worth of public and private assets. among other things, this brings down long - term interest rates via various channels. at the same time, ecb made it clear that it is committed

, transparent and, above all, accountable for its performance. as part of its communication strategy, the governing council of the ecb regularly informs the public about changes in its assessment of the monetary, economic and financial situation in the euro area and about specific monetary policy decisions. the governing council meets every fortnight. the first meeting in every month is immediately followed by a press conference and the release of the president ’ s introductory statement, which is a summary of the conclusions of the governing council with regard to its assessment of monetary, financial and other economic developments. this is similar to what other central banks call minutes. we are convinced that this very prompt delivery of information serves the interests of the public in an optimal way. i do not think that many central banks publish their minutes only a few hours after the meeting of their governing body. i am also convinced that it is in the public interest for the view of the whole governing council to be presented, rather than the views of individual members. moreover, the ecb has just published its first edition of the monthly bulletin, and will publish an annual report. we shall also explain our policies on a regular basis in speeches and interviews, also making a presentation to the european parliament at least four times a year. ii. recent monetary policy decisions and operations co - operation among european national central banks has always been close and, among participants in stage three, it has become increasingly so in recent years and months. the coordinated reduction of the key interest rates by all central banks of the euro area in december 1998 clearly demonstrated that monetary union had begun de facto before the start of stage three. this co - ordinated measure contributed to the stabilisation of market expectations. the governing council of the ecb announced that the new level of the euro area - wide key interest rate of 3 % would prevail “ for the foreseeable future ”. in other words, in the absence of further disturbances to the economy or the emergence of new and unanticipated threats to price stability, this level of interest rate is considered to be consistent with the primary objective of maintaining price stability over the medium term. our announcement helped to resolve some uncertainty at a time when the practical, technical and logistical tasks required by the changeover weekend were uppermost in our minds and in those of market participants. the first main refinancing operations of the eurosystem were successfully settled. while paying due attention to the uncertainties related to the phasing - in