. what role did the negative interest rates play? they were important for enhancing the asset purchase programme and for forward guidance. they are an essential instrument in our toolbox that supports very favourable financial conditions, and therefore the economy. this led to improvements in the credit portfolio of banks. it also stimulated the demand for loans of households and firms. was the impact on savers one of the reasons for the negative reaction? for those savers that do not want to take risks and therefore keep their assets in savings accounts, it is an issue. but it is important to look at the overall situation, and to take into account the impact of our measures on growth and jobs. young people who need to borrow have benefited and, in general, the important thing for them is to find jobs. our measures have supported economic activity and job creation. has the policy of monetary tightening of the federal reserve system ( fed ) put pressure on the decisions of the ecb? there is no pressure. we are in a different situation. the fed and the ecb are at two different stages of their monetary policy cycles. portugal could the ending of this zero interest rate environment be a problem for more indebted countries, like portugal? obviously, countries with higher debt levels have benefited more from lower refinancing costs, but this is not the objective of our monetary policy, which to ensure price stability. more fundamentally, we should always keep in mind that investor confidence in the sustainability of public finances is the key determinant of interest rates on sovereign debt. if there are doubts about the sustainability of public finances, spreads can increase to very high levels, despite the ecb ’ s asset purchase programme. i have noted that, following heightened market volatility due to developments in italy, spillovers to interest rates on portuguese public debt were contained, thanks to significant progress in public finances. this again stresses the importance of sound public finances. what is your assessment of portugal ’ s progress? commission and ecb staff concluded their eighth post - programme surveillance mission last week. they stress that the current favourable macroeconomic and financial conditions provide an opportunity to accelerate structural reforms, further reduce macroeconomic imbalances and increase portugal ’ s resilience to shocks. fiscal consolidation remains necessary to ensure a steady decline in the debt ratio. 3 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches they also note that, while portuguese banks have made considerable progress in strengthening their balance sheets, remaining vulnerabilities in the banking sector need to be

peter praet : interview in expresso interview with mr peter praet, member of the executive board of the european central bank, in expresso, conducted by mr joao silvestre on 18 june 2018 and published on 23 june 2018. * * * is the asset purchase programme ( app ) really going to conclude at the end of this year? what we did last week was to express an anticipation that net asset purchases would end at the end of the year. we didn ’ t say we were now deciding to stop the programme in december. we still have six months to go. we translated the increased confidence we expressed about developments in the economy and inflation into an anticipation about the app. and, at the same time, we also enhanced the forward guidance on interest rates. but, in any event, to anticipate the end of the programme is to give a strong signal. what exactly do you mean by giving a strong signal? we undertook a careful review of the progress made towards a sustained adjustment in the path of inflation to levels below, but close to, 2 %. it was a strong signal because, in spite of a recent moderation in euro area economic growth, we concluded that progress towards our aim has been substantial so far, and actually sufficiently substantial for us to be in a position to express this anticipation of an end to net asset purchases at the end of the year. we think that the underlying strength of the economy gives grounds that inflation convergence will continue in the period ahead, even after a gradual winding down of net asset purchases. what is that confidence based on? there is a path of gradual improvement towards our inflation aim, as the euro area economy will continue to grow above potential. increasing pressure on the utilisation of resources, notably in the labour market, will continue to support inflation over the medium term. is the ecb comfortable with the recent projection pointing to annual inflation of 1. 7 % over the period to 2020, clearly below the 2 % aim for these three years? the eurosystem staff projections are only one element of our assessment. what is crucial is that we see a sustained path of adjustment of inflation towards levels that are below, but close to, 2 %. over the projection period, the contribution of energy to inflation declines, and inflation excluding energy and food gradually rises, as capacity constraints become increasingly binding. what the ecb anticipated last week was the halving of asset purchases between october and december. but there was a provis