european central bank : press conference – introductory statement introductory statement by mr jean - claude trichet, president of the european central bank, frankfurt am main, 6 july 2006. * * * ladies and gentlemen, let me welcome you to our press conference and report on the outcome of today ’ s meeting of the ecb ’ s governing council. the meeting was also attended by commissioner almunia. on the basis of our regular economic and monetary analyses, at today ’ s meeting we decided to leave the key ecb interest rates unchanged. the information that has become available since our last meeting has confirmed that a further withdrawal of monetary accommodation was warranted to contain upside risks to price stability. indeed, acting in a timely manner to contain such risks remains essential to ensure that inflation expectations in the euro area are kept solidly anchored at levels consistent with price stability. such anchoring of inflation expectations is a prerequisite for monetary policy to make an ongoing contribution towards supporting sustainable economic growth and job creation in the euro area. with key ecb interest rates at still low levels in both nominal and real terms, money and credit growth dynamic, and liquidity ample by all plausible measures, our monetary policy continues to be accommodative. therefore, if our assumptions and baseline scenario are confirmed, a progressive withdrawal of monetary accommodation remains warranted. against this background, we will exercise strong vigilance so as to ensure that risks to price stability over the medium term do not materialise. turning first to the economic analysis, the latest data and survey releases remain positive and, in general, have improved further. on balance, this confirms our assessment that economic growth has both regained momentum and become more broadly based and sustained in the first half of 2006. looking further ahead, the conditions remain in place for continued economic growth at rates around potential, despite possible volatility in the quarterly figures. global economic activity remains strong, providing support for euro area exports. investment is expected to pick up, benefiting from an extended period of very favourable financing conditions, balance sheet restructuring and accumulated and ongoing gains in earnings and business efficiency. consumption growth in the euro area should also strengthen gradually over time, in line with developments in real disposable income, as employment conditions improve further. this broadly favourable outlook for economic activity is also reflected in the june eurosystem staff macroeconomic projections and forecasts by international organisations and private sector institutions. the risks to the outlook for economic growth appear to be balanced over the shorter

because financial contracts price the future, and that future is about to undergo fundamental change. the fsb ’ s roadmap for addressing climate - related financial risks, which is being taken forward in close conjunction with the ngfs and many other international bodies, aims to ensure that climate risks are properly reflected in all financial decisions. it covers disclosures, data, vulnerability analysis, and regulatory and supervisory approaches. this is important because, as we all know, what gets measured, gets managed. despite the progress made, the challenges are formidable. they range from identifying and collecting the information needed to measure and assess climate - related risks, to designing robust supervisory tools, such as climate stress tests and scenario analysis. because there are no international standards in place yet, not least relating to disclosures, we have an enormous opportunity to get this right from the start. we should not miss it. the changes i discussed – the move to a post - covid world, ensuring safe digital innovation, and transitioning to net - zero emissions – are global in nature, including their impact on the financial system. in order to promote global financial resilience and the smooth provision of finance to the real economy in the face of these changes, we need to continue our successful global cooperation. the fsb is uniquely placed to facilitate this, because of its three key strengths. first of all its broad, diverse and multi - disciplinary membership. the fsb brings together in a collegial spirit of mutual trust senior officials from 71 authorities in 25 jurisdictions, and 10 multilateral institutions, covering multiple mandates across different sectors. this broad membership enables the fsb to take a truly holistic – cross - sectoral and international – perspective on financial stability issues. such a perspective is key to understanding and tackling risks from digital innovation and climate change, which affect all parts of the financial system, as well as understanding system - wide risk in complex financial ecosystems like nbfi. it is also key to avoid regulatory arbitrage and fragmentation. and its broad membership, including the sectoral standard setters, puts the fsb in a position to coordinate effectively. the second strength is the fsb ’ s agility in addressing near - term threats as well as structural changes in the financial system, while keeping sufficient headroom to be able to respond to new emerging vulnerabilities that are detected. this agility was demonstrated at the start of the pandemic, when fsb members exchanged information on market developments and