european central bank : press conference – introductory statement introductory statement by mr jean - claude trichet, president of the european central bank, and mr vitor constancio, vice - president of the european central bank, frankfurt am main, 3 february 2011. * * * 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. based on its regular economic and monetary analyses, the governing council confirmed that the current key ecb interest rates still remain appropriate. it therefore decided to leave them unchanged. taking into account all the new information and analyses which have become available since our meeting on 13 january 2011, we continue to see evidence of short - term upward pressure on overall inflation, mainly owing to energy and commodity prices. this has not so far affected our assessment that price developments will remain in line with price stability over the policy - relevant horizon. at the same time, very close monitoring is warranted. recent economic data confirm the positive underlying momentum of economic activity in the euro area, while uncertainty remains elevated. our monetary analysis indicates that inflationary pressures over the medium to long term should remain contained. inflation expectations remain firmly anchored in line with our aim of keeping inflation rates below, but close to, 2 % over the medium term. the continued firm anchoring of inflation expectations is of the essence. overall, we expect price stability to be maintained over the medium term, and the current monetary policy stance remains accommodative. the stance, the provision of liquidity and the allotment modes will be adjusted as appropriate, taking into account the fact that all the non - standard measures taken during the period of acute financial market tensions are, by construction, temporary in nature. accordingly, the governing council will continue to monitor all developments over the period ahead very closely. let me now explain our assessment in greater detail, starting with the economic analysis. following the 0. 3 % quarter - on - quarter increase in euro area real gdp in the third quarter of 2010, recent statistical releases and survey - based evidence for the fourth quarter and the beginning of the year continue to confirm the positive underlying momentum of economic activity in the euro area. looking ahead, euro area exports should benefit from the ongoing recovery in the world economy. at the same time, taking into account the relatively high level of business confidence in the euro area, private sector domestic demand should increasingly contribute to growth, supported by the acc

##ting the proceeds and keep our balance sheet as it is for now, so quantitative easing hasn ’ t stopped. we have long - term liquidity operations which could be used again if necessary. and we even have instruments that were announced but have never been used. but even with all this, if we were facing new situations in the future, i ’ m confident we could be creative again and come up with efficient instruments, all within our legal mandate. you didn ’ t mention no - deal brexit among the risk factors? that is definitely a material risk for the near future, but for now it ’ s not an explanation of the current worsening slowdown. the anxiety and pessimism we see is due to the global factors i mentioned. that said, we ’ ve worked a lot with the bank of england to minimise the possible consequences of a no - deal brexit, and our joint conclusion is that most of the risk in financial services could be handled by the market players themselves, save for the derivatives clearing 1 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches question. but that question has now been dealt with by legal assurances given by the european commission for the next year. do you feel the bank of england and the ecb can continue to cooperate smoothly, whatever the brexit scenario? i have no doubt about this in both dimensions of our activities – monetary policy and banking supervision. our dialogue is very intense, very close. in the case of no - deal brexit, keeping that confidence will be essential to manage the situation. were you surprised by the change of guidance of the federal reserve, hinting that rate hikes might be delayed? does that complicate your task? i won ’ t comment on the fed ’ s decision and communication. let me point out that the us economy is likely at the end of a cycle, and this is a moment that is always difficult for markets in their search for information. that ’ s not the case in europe, where we are lagging in terms of recovery and where the normalisation of monetary policy is only beginning. the second element to keep in mind is that the nature of the risks we ’ re all facing today is fundamentally political : trade negotiations, relations between the united states and china, brexit, the political situation in emerging countries, and even some political developments in europe. putting a price on political risk is something markets don ’ t do well. it ’ s not business as usual where you