in more detail today, which is the internationalisation of the rmb. with the continuing growth of the mainland economy and its increasing financial integration with global markets, it is natural that rmb will be increasingly used in international transactions. the 14th five - year plan has made clear that promoting rmb internationalisation should be conducted in a prudent manner, based on a marketdriven approach. 5. but first of all, what does rmb internationalisation have to do with the mutually beneficial relationship between the mainland and hong kong that i have just mentioned? 6. to answer this, let ’ s first talk about how hong kong, as an offshore rmb centre, has contributed to the internationalisation process. very few will dispute that offshore markets have played and will continue to play a very important role in the process of rmb internationalisation. indeed, if we look close enough, the internationalisation of a currency and the development of offshore markets often go hand in hand. if a currency has the 1 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches potential to be an international currency, it will show it in offshore markets. not only that, the presence of offshore markets will actually help establish and reinforce the global status of a currency. it is hard, for instance, to imagine that the us dollar could attain its current status without a fully developed eurodollar market. 7. but then what ’ s so special about us? hong kong is not the only rmb offshore market, but we are the one which stands out from our global peers in offshore rmb business. and we offer very unique value propositions such as being part of china and staying well connected to the world, a sound legal and regulatory system, a deep and liquid capital market, a robust financial infrastructure, and a wealth of financial intermediaries and talent. all these underpinnings shape what we are, namely asia ’ s leading international financial centre ( ifc ), asset management centre and risk management centre. and it ’ s also this broad - based leadership that makes hong kong well placed to help the mainland achieve the objective of promoting rmb internationalisation, while at the same time further reinforces our status as an ifc in the process. this is precisely the mutualism i just referred to. 8. at this point it ’ s worthwhile to first take stock of where we stand as an offshore rmb hub : • we have the largest offshore rmb pool of over rmb800 billion, providing

mario draghi : ecb press conference – introductory statement introductory statement by mr mario draghi, president of the european central bank, and mr victor constancy, vice - president of the european central bank, valletta, 22 october 2015. * * * ladies and gentlemen, the vice - president and i are very pleased to welcome you to our press conference. i would like to thank governor benicia for his kind hospitality and express our special gratitude to his staff for the excellent organization of today ’ s meeting of the governing council. we will now report on the outcome of our meeting. based on our regular economic and monetary analyses, and in line with our forward guidance, the governing council decided to keep the key ecb interest rates unchanged. as regards non - standard monetary policy measures, the asset purchases are proceeding smoothly and continue to have a favorable impact on the cost and availability of credit for firms and households. the governing council has been closely monitoring incoming information since our meeting in early september. while euro area domestic demand remains resilient, concerns over growth prospects in emerging markets and possible repercussions for the economy from developments in financial and commodity markets continue to signal downside risks to the outlook for growth and inflation. most notably, the strength and persistence of the factors that are currently slowing the return of inflation to levels below, but close to, 2 % in the medium term require thorough analysis. in this context, the degree of monetary policy accommodation will need to be re - examined at our december monetary policy meeting, when the new euro system staff macroeconomic projections will be available. the governing council is willing and able to act by using all the instruments available within its mandate if warranted in order to maintain an appropriate degree of monetary accommodation. in particular, the governing council recalls that the asset purchase programmer provides sufficient flexibility in terms of adjusting its size, composition and duration. in the meantime, we will continue to fully implement the monthly asset purchases of €60 billion. these purchases are intended to run until the end of september 2016, or beyond, if necessary, and, in any case, until we see a sustained adjustment in the path of inflation that is consistent with our aim of achieving inflation rates below, but close to, 2 % over the medium term. let me now explain our assessment of the available information in greater detail, starting with the economic analysis. euro area real gdp increased by 0. 4 %, quarter on quarter, in the second quarter of 2015, following a rise