christine lagarde : ecb press conference - introductory statement introductory statement by ms christine lagarde, president of the european central bank, and mr luis de guindos, vice - president of the european central bank, frankfurt am main, 28 october 2021. * * * good afternoon, the vice - president and i welcome you to our press conference. the euro area economy continues to recover strongly, although momentum has moderated to some extent. consumers continue to be confident and their spending remains strong. but shortages of materials, equipment and labour are holding back production in some sectors. inflation is rising, primarily because of the surge in energy prices but also as the recovery in demand is outpacing constrained supply. we foresee inflation rising further in the near term, but then declining in the course of next year. market interest rates have increased since our last meeting in early september. however, overall financing conditions currently remain favourable for firms, households and the public sector. favourable financing conditions are essential for the economy to continue its recovery and to counter the negative impact of the pandemic on the inflation path. we continue to judge that favourable financing conditions can be maintained with a moderately lower pace of net asset purchases under the pandemic emergency purchase programme ( pepp ) than in the second and third quarters of this year. we also confirmed our other measures, namely the level of the key ecb interest rates, our forward guidance on their likely future evolution, our purchases under the asset purchase programme ( app ), our reinvestment policies and our longer - term refinancing operations, as detailed in the press release published at 13 : 45 today. we stand ready to adjust all of our instruments, as appropriate, to ensure that inflation stabilises at our two per cent target over the medium term. i will now outline in more detail how we see the economy and inflation developing and will then talk about our assessment of financial and monetary conditions. economic activity the economy continued to grow strongly in the third quarter, even though momentum moderated to some extent. we still expect output to exceed its pre - pandemic level by the end of the year. the grip of the pandemic on the economy has visibly weakened, with restrictions being lifted as a result of successful health measures and large numbers of people now vaccinated. this is supporting consumer spending, especially on entertainment, dining, travel and transportation. but higher energy prices may reduce purchasing power in the months to come. the recovery

. see board of governors of the federal reserve system ( 2009 ), “ board announces availability of online credit card repayment calculator ”, press release, april 16. see board of governors of the federal reserve system, “ consumer information brochures ”, webpage. see board of governors of the federal reserve system ( 2010 ), “ federal reserve announces an online consumer guide to credit cards ”, press release, february 19. as for consumer protection, the federal reserve continues to demonstrate its commitment in this area. we have recently issued rules pertaining to mortgages, credit cards, student loans, and overdraft protection programs, among others. i should note that in recent years we have used extensive consumer testing, both to improve financial disclosures and to highlight practices that simply cannot be understood by consumers even with the best disclosures and thus must be prohibited. we ’ ve also stepped up our consumer protection supervision and enforcement, including at the nonbank subsidiaries of bank holding companies and foreign banking organizations. again, let me congratulate the foundation for organizing tomorrow ’ s financial literacy summit and for all the good work that it does. i would also like to recognize and congratulate the others honored this evening – john bryant, founder of operation hope ; the late jack kemp, who served as secretary of housing and urban development and as congressman of western new york ; and congresswoman sheila jackson lee of texas. it is wonderful to see so many individuals and organizations working toward the common goal of helping americans make the best choices for their financial futures. thank you again.