european central bank : press conference – introductory statement introductory statement by mr jean - claude trichet, president of the european central bank and mr lucas papademos, vice - president of the european central bank, frankfurt am main, 4 september 2008. * * * 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 of the governing council, which was also attended by commissioner almunia. on the basis of our regular economic and monetary analyses, at today ’ s meeting we decided to leave the key ecb interest rates unchanged. the information that has become available since the last meeting has confirmed that annual inflation rates are likely to remain well above levels consistent with price stability for a protracted period of time and that upside risks to price stability over the medium term prevail. while the growth of broad money and credit aggregates is now showing some signs of moderation, the still strong underlying pace of monetary expansion points to continued upside risks to price stability over the medium term. the latest economic data also confirm the weakening of real gdp growth in mid - 2008. this reflects partly an expected technical reaction to the strong growth seen in the first quarter as well as dampening effects from global and domestic factors, including direct and indirect effects from high commodity prices. in this environment, it remains imperative to avoid broad - based second - round effects in price and wage - setting. in full accordance with our mandate, we emphasise that maintaining price stability in the medium term is our primary objective and that we are resolute in our determination to keep medium and long - term inflation expectations firmly anchored in line with price stability. this will preserve purchasing power in the medium term and support sustainable growth and employment. on the basis of our assessment, the current monetary policy stance will contribute to achieving our objective. we will continue to monitor very closely all developments over the period ahead. allow me to explain our assessment in greater detail, starting with the economic analysis. according to eurostat ’ s first estimate, following strong quarterly growth of 0. 7 % in the first quarter, euro area real gdp contracted by 0. 2 % in the second quarter of 2008. in terms of quarter - on - quarter growth, private consumption declined by 0. 2 % and there was a perceptible weakness in investment, which fell by 1. 2 %. growth in both euro area imports and exports declined by 0. 4

benoit cœure : welcome remarks welcome remarks by mr benoit cœure, member of the executive board of the european central bank, at the foreign exchange contact group meeting, frankfurt am main, 28 november 2018. * * * i am very pleased to welcome you here today to the foreign exchange contact group ( fxcg ) meeting. thank you for coming to frankfurt to share your views and insights with us. in my short introductory remarks, i would like to address the importance of strengthening the foundations of the foreign exchange ( fx ) market. i will argue that we all have a role to play here, and that adopting and adhering to the fx global code ( “ the code ” ) is a powerful way to support change and engage non - signatories in the change process. let me start by briefly illustrating a few of the most notable changes to the fx market structure in recent years. since our market contact group was set up in 1999, the fx market landscape has undergone a deep and broad structural evolution, which has gained significant momentum in recent years. on the sell side, one of the most notable changes relates to the execution of trades. fx trading has become increasingly electronic and automated, reflecting technological advances. the share of spot fx trading that is conducted electronically has almost doubled in the past ten years and now constitutes a substantial majority of daily turnover. the process of growing digitalisation coincided with the emergence of new market participants, trading venues and innovative services. despite these developments, however, liquidity provision has become more concentrated. today, fewer market participants account for an increasing share of fx turnover. we have observed similar changes in market structure on the buy side. for instance, over the past few years asset managers have generally increased their activities in fx - related products and have, over time, collectively emerged as important players in the fx industry. together, these structural evolutions have had implications for how the market functions and how central banks monitor the fx market. on the monitoring side, one tangible implication was the need to broaden the fxcg ’ s outreach to appropriately reflect the new, and more diverse, investor landscape. the ecb ’ s market contact groups are open to all interested market participants that apply for membership. it is important for us to follow a transparent application and governance framework. this is why the fxcg terms of reference, application forms and meeting material, such as agendas, the list of participants, presentations and summaries of our and other ecb market