mario draghi : ecb press conference – introductory statement introductory statement by mr mario draghi, president of the european central bank, and mr vitor constancio, vice - president of the european central bank, frankfurt am main, 7 february 2013. * * * 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. based on our regular economic and monetary analyses, we decided to keep the key ecb interest rates unchanged. hicp inflation rates have declined further, as anticipated, and are expected to fall below 2 % in the coming months. over the policy - relevant horizon, inflationary pressures should remain contained. the underlying pace of monetary expansion continues to be subdued. medium to longer - term inflation expectations for the euro area remain firmly anchored in line with our aim of maintaining inflation rates below, but close to, 2 %. overall, this allows our monetary policy stance to remain accommodative. the economic weakness in the euro area is expected to prevail in the early part of 2013. in particular, necessary balance sheet adjustments in the public and private sectors will continue to weigh on economic activity. later in 2013 economic activity should gradually recover, supported by our accommodative monetary policy stance, the improvement in financial market confidence and reduced fragmentation, as well as a strengthening of global demand. in order to sustain confidence, it is essential for governments to reduce further both fiscal and structural imbalances and to proceed with financial sector restructuring. with regard to the liquidity situation of banks, counterparties have so far repaid €140. 6 billion of the €489. 2 billion obtained in the first of the two three - year longer - term refinancing operations ( ltros ) settled in december 2011 and march 2012. this reflects the improvement in financial market confidence. repayments are provided for in the modalities of the three - year ltros and are at the discretion of the counterparties, who must appropriately assess their funding situation, their ability to provide new loans to the economy and their resilience to shocks. we will closely monitor conditions in the money market and their potential impact on the stance of monetary policy, which will remain accommodative with the full allotment mode of liquidity provision. let me now explain our assessment in greater detail, starting with the economic analysis. euro area

consequences if no end - date is set. currently, different options for a migration end - date are being discussed. a migration end - date, whether it is staggered by individual instrument or common to both the sct and the sdd, may be achieved through self - regulation by the banks or through regulation by the authorities. banks and regulation authorities will discuss what is the best way forward. the migration end - date ( s ) should be communicated in early 2009. communication the public at large still knows very little about sepa and its advantages. yet, users need to know more about sepa, sepa instruments and the different possibilities that exist to add features to core schemes so that they fulfil specific needs. in short, information about sepa needs to be communicated more effectively to users : sepa must be “ sold ” to users. continuous and increased efforts are called for to explain the changes and advantages that sepa will bring. it is up to the banking industry to provide more information to customers and to convince them with concrete, marketable and high - quality offers. banks have direct contact with their customers and are best placed to inform them. naturally, public authorities should also play a role in disseminating information and lead by example by actually using sepa products. however, it is crucial for banks to effectively communicate what sepa is about to users. esepa sepa does not stop at the development and implementation of the core sepa payment schemes. in order to ensure a competitive, forward - looking and innovative sepa, it is necessary to develop additional optional services ( aos ) that add features to the core sepa payment schemes. designing and offering payment services for specific contexts and channels will allow customers to realise cost - savings, reduce their risk and save liquidity. to be concrete, this is about priority payments, e - invoicing and e - reconciliation, mobile payments or payments at online merchants. studies have shown that e - services promise substantial economic benefits both on the demand and the supply side. thus, i expect that, in the future, this international payments summit will change its slogan from “ do you sepa? ” to “ do you esepa? ” conclusion i am convinced that sepa is more than just a passing fad. it acts as an engine for creating a more integrated retail payments market in europe, enabling competition and innovation, and making retail payments in general more efficient, safer and easier for users. let ’ s keep