mario draghi : ecb press conference – introductory statement introductory statement by mr mario draghi, president of the european central bank, frankfurt am main, 6 november 2014. * * * 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 the commission vice - president, mr dombrovskis. based on our regular economic and monetary analyses, and in line with our forward guidance, we decided to keep the key ecb interest rates unchanged. following up on the decisions of 2 october 2014, we last month started purchasing covered bonds under our new programme. we will also soon start to purchase asset - backed securities. the programmes will last for at least two years. together with the series of targeted longer - term refinancing operations to be conducted until june 2016, these asset purchases will have a sizeable impact on our balance sheet, which is expected to move towards the dimensions it had at the beginning of 2012. our measures will enhance the functioning of the monetary policy transmission mechanism, support financing conditions in the euro area, facilitate credit provision to the real economy and generate positive spillovers to other markets. they will thereby further ease the monetary policy stance more broadly, support our forward guidance on the key ecb interest rates and reinforce the fact that there are significant and increasing differences in the monetary policy cycle between major advanced economies. with the measures that have been put in place, monetary policy has responded to the outlook for low inflation, a weakening growth momentum and continued subdued monetary and credit dynamics. our accommodative monetary policy stance will underpin the firm anchoring of medium to long - term inflation expectations, in line with our aim of achieving inflation rates below, but close to, 2 %. as they work their way through to the economy, our monetary policy measures will together contribute to a return of inflation rates to levels closer to our aim. however, looking ahead, and taking into account new information and analysis, the governing council will closely monitor and continuously assess the appropriateness of its monetary policy stance. should it become necessary to further address risks of too prolonged a period of low inflation, the governing council is unanimous in its commitment to using additional unconventional instruments within its mandate. the governing council has tasked ecb staff and the relevant eurosystem committees with ensuring the timely preparation of further measures to be implemented, if needed. let

money, for low value and retail transactions, we should be indifferent at the margin whether a payment is made in commercial or central bank money. payment can of course be made in something that is not money, but since it would not have an assured nominal value, this is not an efficient or credible means of exchange. this is one reason why, for instance, bitcoin has not taken off as a general medium of payment. it follows from this that if we are indifferent whether retail payments are made in central bank or commercial bank money, it is harder to see an anchor role for central bank money in this area. but, that does not mean there is no role. this is not a roundabout 1 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches way of saying that we see no need for cash. quite the opposite. we should supply cash for as long as the public want it. and, the evidence is that they do want it, so we will continue to supply it. let me turn briefly to the wholesale payment world and the world of payment system settlement. here i may appear to contradict myself, but my view is the opposite. i do think there is a special role for central bank money in wholesale high value payments and in settlement of payment systems. so, here it is acting as the anchor. why? the reason is that unlike cash, wholesale payments and settlement take place using the reserve accounts maintained by banks at central banks. this money ( like cash to be clear ) is directly backed by a promise of the state. accordingly, this is the core liquid asset of the banking system, and is therefore the anchor of the system. so, there is logically a distinction here. we can be indifferent to retail payments between central bank and commercial bank money but not for wholesale payments and settlement. from the perspective of the bank of england, we are putting a lot of emphasis on enabling digital and other innovation in the wholesale world. we want to see innovation and encourage it, around the anchor of central bank money consistent with our core objectives of monetary and financial stability. if you want to know more please see our recent discussion paper where we talk about the experiments we are launching, including offering a digitally tokenised form of central bank money. there are two more steps in my argument. the first is to ask whether, if we are indifferent on money grounds whether retail payments are made in central bank or commercial bank money, are we likewise indifferent in broader economic terms? my answer to that is