carlos da silva costa : sovereign debt crisis, risks or opportunities address by mr carlos da silva costa, governor of the bank of portugal, at the 2nd reuterstsf conference : “ sovereign debt crisis, risks or opportunities ”, lisbon, 28 february 2011. * * * according to the latest data available for 2010, the portuguese economic situation can be summarised as follows : a fiscal deficit estimated at around 7 % of gdp compared with deficits of 6. 3 % in the euro area and 10. 5 % in the uk ; a public debt around 83 % of gdp, compared with 84. 1 % in the euro area ; a growth rate of 1. 4 % in 2010, compared with 1. 8 % in the euro area ; financing needs of the portuguese economy as measured by the combined current and capital account amounting to 8. 7 % of gdp in 2010 ; a net debtor international investment position above 100 % of gdp, and a net external debt equivalent to 85. 3 % of gdp in 2010, of which 48. 0 % corresponds to the general government sector. these figures only provide a snapshot, which needs to be considered in the context of the underlying driving forces. more specifically, to understand where we are today, we need to know where we came from and where we are going. there is no other way to assess and understand the size of the challenges faced by the portuguese economy and the consistency of its path. therefore, it is important to remember that in the last decade the portuguese economy recorded : a weak rate of growth in the years that preceded the international crisis – with an annual average growth rate of 1 % between 2001 and 2008 ; a steady decline in the potential growth rate, as a reflection of the reduction in the growth of labour productivity, capital and total factor productivity ; an increase in public indebtedness from 48. 7 % of gdp in 2000 to nearly 83 % of gdp in 2010, mirroring a rise in public expenditure of virtually 8 percentage points during the same period. this despite a reduction in debt servicing costs resulting from the adoption of the euro in conjunction with the benefits of the so - called great moderation period ; an increasing level of household indebtedness, which rose from less than 80 % of disposable income in 1999 to more than 120 % in 2008, reflecting easier access to consumer and mortgage credit, in terms of both volume and cost ; a rising level of external indebtedness, resulting from recurrent

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, 25 january 2018. * * * ladies and gentlemen, first of all let me wish you a happy new year. 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 vicepresident, mr dombrovskis. based on our regular economic and monetary analyses, we decided to keep the key ecb interest rates unchanged. we continue to expect them to remain at their present levels for an extended period of time, and well past the horizon of our net asset purchases. regarding non - standard monetary policy measures, we confirm that our net asset purchases, at the new monthly pace of €30 billion, are intended to run until the end of september 2018, or beyond, if necessary, and in any case until the governing council sees a sustained adjustment in the path of inflation consistent with its inflation aim. if the outlook becomes less favourable, or if financial conditions become inconsistent with further progress towards a sustained adjustment in the path of inflation, we stand ready to increase the asset purchase programme ( app ) in terms of size and / or duration. the eurosystem will reinvest the principal payments from maturing securities purchased under the app for an extended period of time after the end of its net asset purchases, and in any case for as long as necessary. this will contribute both to favourable liquidity conditions and to an appropriate monetary policy stance. incoming information confirms a robust pace of economic expansion, which accelerated more than expected in the second half of 2017. the strong cyclical momentum, the ongoing reduction of economic slack and increasing capacity utilisation strengthen further our confidence that inflation will converge towards our inflation aim of below, but close to, 2 %. at the same time, domestic price pressures remain muted overall and have yet to show convincing signs of a sustained upward trend. against this background, the recent volatility in the exchange rate represents a source of uncertainty which requires monitoring with regard to its possible implications for the medium - term outlook for price stability. overall, an ample degree of monetary stimulus remains necessary for underlying inflation pressures to continue to build up and support headline inflation developments over the medium term. this continued