european central bank : press conference – introductory statement introductory statement by mr jean - claude trichet, president of the european central bank and mr lucas papademos, vice - president of the european central bank, luxembourg, 2 july 2009. * * * ladies and gentlemen, the vice - president and i are very pleased to welcome you to our press conference here in luxembourg. i would like to thank governor mersch for his kind hospitality and to express our special gratitude to his staff for the excellent organisation of the meeting of the governing council. we will now report on the outcome of today ’ s meeting of the governing council, which was also attended by the president of the eurogroup, prime minister juncker, and commissioner almunia. on the basis of its regular economic and monetary analyses, the governing council decided to leave the key ecb interest rates unchanged. the current rates remain appropriate taking into account all the information and analyses that have become available since our meeting on 4 june 2009. the fall of annual inflation rates into negative territory in june is in line with previous expectations and reflects mainly temporary effects. after a return to positive inflation rates, we expect price developments to remain dampened over the policy - relevant horizon. recent data releases and survey information provide further indications that economic activity over the remainder of this year is likely to remain weak but should decline less strongly than was the case in the first quarter of 2009. this assessment incorporates adverse lagged effects, such as a further deterioration in labour markets, which are likely to materialise over the coming months. looking ahead into next year, after a phase of stabilisation, a gradual recovery with positive quarterly growth rates is expected by mid - 2010. available indicators of inflation expectations over the medium to longer term remain firmly anchored in line with the governing council ’ s aim of keeping inflation rates below, but close to, 2 % over the medium term. the outcome of the monetary analysis corroborates the assessment of low inflationary pressure, as money and credit indicators continue to be weak. against this background, we expect the current episode of extremely low or negative inflation rates to be short - lived and price stability to be maintained over the medium term, thereby continuing to support the purchasing power of euro area households. let me now explain our assessment in further detail, starting with the economic analysis. the data and survey information that have become available since our last press conference in early june have broadly confirmed our previous expectations. economic activity over the remainder of this year is

the mosaic floors that decorated this building. in addition, part of the exhibition are also the unique fresco - details that adorned the baptistery, which is located next to the basilica. the exclusively crafted marble container also belongs to the baptistery, as part of its internal decoration, which, on its part, includes the famous mosaics with depictions of peacocks. those were the peacocks that the artist biljana unkovska used when designing the layout of the modern macedonian banknotes of ten denars. speaking of the ancient town of stobi, besides the fact that it is really a constant inspiration for artistic creation, in the past it was a center with emphasized monetary production that took place more than 18 centuries ago. this exhibition is even more significant because of the generous support of the us embassy in the republic of macedonia, which throughout the past years has enabled professional protection of these invaluable paintings, thanks to which they can now be publicly exhibited. the national bank is honored by the given trust to host this exhibition, which i hope that over the next month will be an intriguing cultural event for the general public. i also hope that with bis central bankers ’ speeches the support of the ministry of culture and of the other institutions of culture in macedonia, also in the future we will have an opportunity to enrich the public life and the creative social pulse of the country ’ s cultural life. expressing my sincere gratitude to the ministry of culture of the republic of macedonia, the national institution stobi and the embassy of the united states in the republic of macedonia, i invite his excellency, the ambassador of the united states, paul wohlers and the minister of culture of the republic of macedonia, elizabeta kancheska - milevska to take the floor. bis central bankers ’ speeches