it premature to conclude whether these developments could have a lasting impact on the outlook for prices, or whether they should be considered to be mainly transitory. [ slide 12 ] sharp fall in long - term bond yields … the ecb ’ s asset purchase programme has already led to lower reference interest rates over the whole maturity spectrum and is gradually resulting in more favourable borrowing conditions for non - financial corporations and households. despite somewhat higher bond yields recently, borrowing conditions remain favourable and loan dynamics are expected to improve. [ slide 13 ] stock market turbulence in august a policy of quantitative easing boosts property prices and stock markets. in august, however, equity prices fell sharply in china and also globally as the uncertainty over the state of the chinese economy increased. this has sent jitters in the stock markets through the world. it remains to be seen whether the uncertainty is increased in a more permanent fashion. [ slide 14 ] monetary policy transmission to the real economy … monetary policy transmission to the real economy is improving the expanded asset purchases began only at the beginning of march. the full impact of our measures, especially if accompanied by firm actions by other policymakers, will be seen in the months and years ahead. while we have already seen a substantial effect from our measures on bond yields and asset prices, what ultimately matters is when there is an equivalent effect on investment, consumption and inflation. [ slide 15 ] monetary policy measures support bank lending bis central bankers ’ speeches recovery in bank lending and the strengthening of other sources of finance are important factors working for the current monetary policy in the euro area. our policies are also improving the credit channel, confirmed by the fact that credit to the private sector is at last gradually picking up. the ecb ’ s monetary policy measures enhance financial intermediation in a number of ways. they lower funding costs for banks, which should make lending cheaper and more profitable, thereby boosting the volume of lending. and the banks benefit from the measures via their positive impact on the real economy. an improving real economy will eventually be reflected in expanding balance sheets and improved profitability as, for example, the share of non - performing loans in the loan stock declines. at the same time, banks ’ credit risks will decline, making it easier for them to increase lending. [ slide 16 ] monetary policy transmission to non - financial corporations … these extraordinary monetary policy measures have contributed to a broad - based easing in financial conditions and more favourable borrowing conditions for firms and households. they support economic activity in all of

of ‘ never excuse, never explain ’ and central banks acting as opaque and secretive institutions were over for good. [ slide 29 ] transparency, accountability and efficiency :.. a high degree of transparency is an important tool for an independent central bank like the ecb, as it facilitates accountability. we are accountable to achieve our mandate, price stability. by explaining the reasoning behind our monetary policy decisions and helping a better understanding of monetary policy we make it easier to attain our objective, facilitating efficiency. in mid - 2013, by introducing forward guidance and through 2014 conveying the governing council ’ s ‘ reaction function ’ we increased our influence over the shape of the yield curve. when we had decided on our purchase programme in january, long - term nominal interest rates declined, as we had communicated our reaction function and the markets understood it. bis central bankers ’ speeches most recently, and going forward, president mario draghi has clarified our reaction function by discussing the conditions that will determine the duration and intensity of our expanded asset purchase programme, above and beyond our expressed intention to carry out our purchases until end - september 2016. we have emphasized that we will evaluate the likelihood for inflation not only to converge to levels that are closer to 2 %, but also to stabilize around those levels with sufficient confidence thereafter. the decision to publish an account of our monetary policy meetings was preceded by long and thorough discussions by the governing council. as we have been increasingly resorting to unconventional measures to meet our mandate, we decided that we need to be more open with the public about how we reached our decisions. at the same time, we felt that even differences of views can be communicated without compromising the credibility and singleness of our monetary policy. such differences are quite normal and should exist in any committee having meaningful and analytical discussions. the accounts we decided to start publishing are intended to provide a richer summary and convey the flavour of the discussion among governing council members. this implies that in reporting on our monetary policy deliberations the independence of the members of the governing council must not be put at risk. at the same time, it is also very important to us to preserve the collegiality of our deliberations. that is why we do not attribute positions to individual council members. in our view, providing a fair and balanced summary of the main arguments put forward was the best way to achieve this. the language we use reflects our collegiate, consensusoriented mode of discussion and decision - making. and not publishing a voting record