european central bank : press conference - introductory statement introductory statement by mr willem f duisenberg, president of the european central bank and mr christian noyer, vice - president of the european central bank, at the press conference, held in frankfurt, on 2 november 2000. * * * ladies and gentlemen, the vice - president and i are here to report on the outcome of today ’ s meeting of the governing council of the ecb. the governing council conducted its regular examination of monetary and economic developments and their implications for the maintenance of price stability in the euro area. it decided to leave the minimum bid rate on the main refinancing operations of the eurosystem unchanged at 4. 75 %. the interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility were also kept unchanged at 5. 75 % and 3. 75 % respectively. starting with the first pillar of the monetary policy strategy of the ecb, the three - month average of annual m3 growth stood at 5. 4 % in the period from june to september 2000, unchanged from the three - month period ending in august 2000. while remaining above the reference value of 4½ %, m3 growth, reflecting the increases in ecb interest rates since november 1999, has shown signs of moderation over recent months. a further factor to be taken into account is the fact that the growth rate of credit to the private sector increased to 10. 8 % in september. however, this was influenced by the financing of payments for umts licences. the growth rate of total mfi credit to euro area residents remained broadly unchanged in that month. turning to the second pillar, one issue under consideration was the likely further development in world economic activity and particularly real gdp growth in the euro area. overall, the outlook for growth of the world economy remains favourable. in particular, as far as the decline in real gdp growth in the united states in the third quarter of 2000 is concerned, this may be seen as the first sign of an orderly slowdown towards more sustainable levels, in line with the projections currently available. more generally, the extended period of rising and high oil prices has increased the uncertainty surrounding the sustainability of recent growth trends. however, by contrast with previous periods of strong and prolonged increases in oil prices, the world economy is less dependent on oil today and inflationary pressures are still being contained. this should help to avoid any sustained negative effect on confidence, and thereby ensure that the impact of high oil prices on growth remains moderate over

' s decision to participate in the asian bond fund, which is a fund for investment in u. s. dollar - denominated east asian sovereign bonds. this is part of central bank cooperation to further develop asian bond markets, which was discussed at the executives'meeting of east asia - pacific central banks ( emeap ). the initial size of the asian bond fund is only about u. s. $ 1 billion. we hope that with an increase in trading volume and liquidity as well as an expansion in the number of investors not only from the region but also from all over the world, the asian bond fund will generate momentum for the further expansion of asian bond markets. this would certainly contribute to facilitating funding by japanese companies in east asia. we also strongly hope that such cooperation among central banks in east asia will strengthen financial systems in the region. third, the bank is further improving the quality of information and analysis relating to economic and financial developments in east asia. particularly noteworthy are the rapid development of the chinese economy and the expansion of japanese companies into china - related businesses. in light of such developments, the bank is preparing to establish a representative office in beijing by the end of the year. through this office, the bank aims to gather more detailed information about the east asian economy. bearing in mind the relationship between japan and the rest of east asia that i have described, we will make our utmost efforts to meet the challenges facing the japanese economy in the broader context of ongoing globalization.