decisions are taken with unanimity – you have to defend that decision. there are 25 of us and, for sure, there are sometimes different views, but when a decision is taken by a clear majority, it is important to defend it. it would be much better if we tried to reduce the level of surrounding noise. would it have been difficult for president draghi to push the package through had a majority of the executive board been against it? the basis of the package was the outlook. inflation expectations are not de - anchoring, but there is a potential risk that they could do so, and the threat of deflation could come to the fore. that ’ s why we reacted. the core element of the package was forward guidance. people have not paid much attention to that, but in my view, that was the main, important message. and afterwards we took other measures : cutting the interest rate, “ tiering ”, targeted longer - term refinancing operations, and finally the asset purchase programme ( app ). but forward guidance is the main element and the core reference for how things can evolve in the near future. one central bank governor recently suggested life would be much easier for the ecb if it simply accepted inflation rates at closer to 1 % than 2 %. where do you stand? 1 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches our remit is to achieve price stability, and price stability according to our present definition is below, but close to, 2 %. whether it is symmetric or not is a different question – while it ’ s not a minor question, it ’ s not the most important one either. the third element we are perhaps overlooking is the reaction function : how powerful our instruments are in their ability to push up inflation. i think that ’ s the real point. we have not entered into discussion over whether the target should be modified. it will be discussed by the governing council and perhaps with a new president it will be different. but for me the kind of monetary policy decisions you take and the tools you have to achieve the target are much more important. it ’ s been argued that tiering is in effect a rate increase ….. no, i don ’ t think so. tiering is a form of mitigation. that ’ s why it was set. is it a form of mitigation that lays the ground for further rate cuts? we haven ’ t discussed it, but my impression is that – 0. 50 % is

luis de guindos : interview with market news interview with mr luis de guindos, vice - president of the european central bank, and market news, conducted by mr luke heighton on 7 october 2019, and published on 9 october 2019. * * * how pessimistic are you about the state of the european economy at the moment? we have a sort of two - tier economy : on the one side, we have manufacturing and exports, and on the other, we have services and domestic demand. manufacturing and exports are clearly underperforming the rest of the economy ; that ’ s why we have some differences among euro area countries. germany, for example, is much more exposed to the external sector. that ’ s our baseline scenario. but i think the most important point is not so much that the projection has been revised downwards several times, but that we have not included in the baseline the possibility of a no - deal brexit, or even an escalation of trade tensions. if these downward risks materialise, the growth outlook will deteriorate further, from already very low levels. global economic activity has been slowing for some time. the united states and china are engaged in an ongoing trade dispute and the manufacturing sector in europe, and germany in particular, has been hard hit. how much longer can the ecb – and indeed fiscal authorities if they were to loosen the purse strings – continue to prop up the eurozone economy under those circumstances? the capacity of monetary policy to address these types of shocks is not unlimited. we are not almighty ; we have to be humble. other actors have to step in. i ’ m referring to structural reforms, to fiscal policy, the completion of the capital markets union and the completion of the banking union. if we have an orderly brexit, if trade disputes are de - escalated, that will be positive for the european and world economy. but the message is that monetary policy cannot address all the problems in the world. we are not the saviours of the world. you ’ ve been portrayed as a rather reluctant supporter of the package that was announced on 12 september. is that fair? were there aspects of the package that you supported more or less than others? i ’ ve always had a very clear approach to the way we make our decisions. this is a collegial institution, a collegial forum. it ’ s very simple : once a decision has been taken – and the majority of