olli rehn : which economic and financial priorities for fostering growth and innovation in the eu? opening remarks by mr olli rehn, governor of the bank of finland, at the eurofi financial forum 2019, helsinki, 11 september 2019. * * * ladies and gentlemen, dear colleagues and friends, it is my great pleasure to welcome you to helsinki and to the eurofi financial forum 2019. helsinki is a major nordic financial centre and finland is an active founding member of the emu and the banking union. moreover, central banking has a long history in finland. compared to the “ youngsters ”, like the fed and the ecb, the bank of finland is a “ veteran ”, having been founded in 1811, which makes us the 4th oldest cental bank in the world. that means, if you don ’ t count finland being an organic part of sweden, which has the oldest central bank in the world, sveriges riksbank, founded in 1668. the eurofi on its part has been providing a valuable platform for the exchange of ideas and information between the public authorities and the financial industry for two decades. i am confident that over the next few days the eurofi helsinki forum will give us plenty of food for thought on topical issues in european economic and financial policy. the theme of the morning sessions – the economic and financial priorities for fostering growth and innovation in the eu – could not be more pertinent. apart from managing immigration better and reinforcing external and internal security, our key policy challenge in the coming years will be no less than boosting an economic and industrial revival of europe. let me share some thoughts with you on the priorities to this effect. first, on macroeconomic policies. as we are on the ecb ’ s silent period, i will not comment on – or even touch – monetary policy. i just note that the euro area economy has been on a path of recovery and growth since 2013. but prolonged pervasive uncertainty stemming from the escalating trade war and related to vulnerabilities in the emerging market economies, as well as ongoing geopolitical tensions, have left their mark on the economic sentiment. europe ’ s labour markets have been resilient, so far, and that is supporting domestic demand. however, the falling external demand is taking its toll, and having its effect also on the labour market. the bank of finland and other central banks in the eurosystem are ready to do what

. 3 % in the previous month, while the annual growth rate of loans to households remained broadly stable at 2. 3 % in february. at the same time, the euro area bank lending survey for the first quarter of 2017 indicates that net loan demand has increased and bank lending conditions have further eased across all loan categories. the pass - through of the monetary policy measures put in place since june 2014 continues to significantly support borrowing conditions for firms and households and credit flows across the euro area. to sum up, a cross - check of the outcome of the economic analysis with the signals coming from the monetary analysis confirmed the need for a continued very substantial degree of monetary accommodation to secure a sustained return of inflation rates towards levels that are below, but close to, 2 % without undue delay. in order to reap the full benefits from our monetary policy measures, other policy areas must contribute much more decisively to strengthening economic growth. the implementation of structural reforms needs to be substantially stepped up to increase resilience, reduce structural unemployment and boost productivity and potential output growth. regarding fiscal policies, all countries should intensify efforts towards achieving a more growth - friendly composition of public finances. a full and consistent implementation of the stability and growth pact and of the macroeconomic imbalances procedure over time and across countries remains crucial to enhance the resilience of the euro area economy. we are now at your disposal for questions. 2 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches