. the governing council sees it as increasingly likely that inflation will stabilise at its two per cent target over the medium term. in alternative scenarios for the economic and financial impact of the war, which will be published together with the staff projections on our website, economic activity could be dampened significantly by a steeper rise in energy and commodity prices and a more severe drag on trade and sentiment. inflation could be considerably higher in the near term. however, in all scenarios, inflation is still expected to decrease progressively and settle at levels around our two per cent inflation target in 2024. based on our updated assessment and taking into account the uncertain environment, the governing council today revised the purchase schedule for its asset purchase programme ( app ) for the coming months. monthly net purchases under the app will amount to €40 billion in april, €30 billion in may and €20 billion in june. the calibration of net purchases for the third quarter will be data - dependent and reflect our evolving assessment of the outlook. if the incoming data support the expectation that the medium - term inflation outlook will not weaken even after the end of our net asset purchases, the governing council will conclude net purchases under the app in the third quarter. if the medium - term inflation outlook changes and if financing conditions become inconsistent with further progress towards our two per cent target, we stand ready to 1 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches revise our schedule for net asset purchases in terms of size and / or duration. any adjustments to the key ecb interest rates will take place some time after the end of our net purchases under the app and will be gradual. the path for the key ecb interest rates will continue to be determined by the governing council ’ s forward guidance and by its strategic commitment to stabilise inflation at two per cent over the medium term. accordingly, the governing council expects the key ecb interest rates to remain at their present levels until it sees inflation reaching two per cent well ahead of the end of its projection horizon and durably for the rest of the projection horizon, and it judges that realised progress in underlying inflation is sufficiently advanced to be consistent with inflation stabilising at two per cent over the medium term. we also confirmed our other policy measures, as detailed in the press release published at 13 : 45 today. i will now outline in more detail how we see the economy and inflation developing, and will then explain our assessment of financial and monetary conditions. economic activity the economy grew by 5

christine lagarde : ecb press conference - introductory statement introductory statement by ms christine lagarde, president of the european central bank, and mr luis de guindos, vice - president of the european central bank, frankfurt am main, 10 march 2022. * * * good afternoon, the vice - president and i welcome you to our press conference. the russian invasion of ukraine is a watershed for europe. the governing council expresses its full support to the people of ukraine. we will ensure smooth liquidity conditions and implement the sanctions decided by the european union and european governments. we will take whatever action is needed to fulfil the ecb ’ s mandate to pursue price stability and to safeguard financial stability. the russia - ukraine war will have a material impact on economic activity and inflation through higher energy and commodity prices, the disruption of international commerce and weaker confidence. the extent of these effects will depend on how the conflict evolves, on the impact of current sanctions and on possible further measures. in recognition of the highly uncertain environment, the governing council considered a range of scenarios in today ’ s meeting. the impact of the russia - ukraine war has to be assessed in the context of solid underlying conditions for the euro area economy, helped by ample policy support. the recovery of the economy is boosted by the fading impact of the omicron coronavirus variant. supply bottlenecks have been showing some signs of easing and the labour market has been improving further. in the baseline of the new staff projections, which incorporate a first assessment of the implications of the war, gdp growth has been revised downwards for the near term, owing to the war in ukraine. the projections foresee the economy growing at 3. 7 per cent in 2022, 2. 8 per cent in 2023 and 1. 6 per cent in 2024. inflation has continued to surprise on the upside because of unexpectedly high energy costs. price rises have also become more broadly based. the baseline for inflation in the new staff projections has been revised upwards significantly, with annual inflation at 5. 1 per cent in 2022, 2. 1 per cent in 2023 and 1. 9 per cent in 2024. inflation excluding food and energy is projected to average 2. 6 per cent in 2022, 1. 8 per cent in 2023 and 1. 9 per cent in 2024, also higher than in the december projections. longer - term inflation expectations across a range of measures have re - anchored at our inflation target