christine lagarde : international monetary and financial committee statement statement by ms christine lagarde, president of the european central bank, at the fiftieth meeting of the international monetary and financial committee, imf annual meetings, washington dc, 25 october 2024. * * * introduction since our last meeting in april, the global growth outlook has remained broadly unchanged. while global growth is projected to expand at a moderate pace, risks to the outlook have shifted to the downside, reflecting rising economic policy uncertainty against a backdrop of heightened geopolitical tensions. global headline inflation continues to recede amid falling energy prices, the normalisation of supply conditions and still tight monetary policy. in october the governing council lowered the three key ecb interest rates by 25 basis points. the decision to lower the deposit facility rate – the rate through which it steers the monetary policy stance – reflects the governing council's updated assessment of the inflation outlook, the dynamics of underlying inflation and the strength of monetary policy transmission. the incoming information on inflation shows that the disinflation process is well on track. recent indicators of economic activity have surprised somewhat to the downside and financing conditions remain restrictive. the governing council will keep policy rates sufficiently restrictive for as long as necessary to achieve its two per cent medium - term inflation target in a timely manner. the appropriate level and duration of restriction will continue to be determined by following a data - dependent and meeting - by - meeting approach. in particular, the governing council's interest rate decisions will be based on its assessment of the inflation outlook, the dynamics of underlying inflation and the strength of monetary policy transmission. the governing council is not pre - committing to a particular interest rate path. the governing council recently initiated an assessment of its monetary policy strategy, which will focus on the changed inflation environment and its implications for the monetary policy strategy, with conclusions expected in the second half of 2025. economic activity after the broad stagnation in activity in 2023, euro area real gdp expanded moderately in the first half of this year, helped by the recovery in foreign demand and public spending. private domestic demand remained weak, with households and firms still hesitant to consume and invest. incoming data suggest economic activity may have softened again in the second half of the year amid rising geopolitical uncertainty. looking ahead, we expect growth to strengthen over time, as rising real incomes support household consumption and the gradually fading effects of restrictive monetary 1 / 4 bis - central bankers'speeches policy should

##th anniversary this year, its role and work remain absolutely critical in the current complex global environment. the fund's multilateral and bilateral surveillance function remains as important as ever in protecting member countries from crises, and the upcoming comprehensive surveillance review will help establish the most relevant priorities for years to come. we welcome the recent decisions to strengthen the imf's lending toolkit as part of the review of charges and the surcharges policy and the review of the poverty reduction and growth trust facilities and financing. we support the imf's position at the centre of the global financial safety net, with a strong core mandate, and we highly value its unique role in bridge - building and facilitating global cooperation to tackle common challenges. we welcome the fact that sub - saharan africa will shortly occupy the newly created seat on the imf's executive board, which will significantly contribute to improving the overall balance of regional representation. we continue to witness an increase in economic losses and financial risks stemming from extreme physical climate hazards, including record - breaking heatwaves in asia, devastating floods and wildfires in the americas and central and eastern europe, and more frequent tropical storms in the caribbean and south asia. adaptation measures to shield our lives and economies from the impact of climate change, alongside ambitious policies to put the climate transition on track, are more relevant than ever. we support international progress on transition planning, enabling corporations, financial institutions and governments to set up credible net - zero roadmaps in a systematic way. furthermore, it is essential to further develop more systematic and comprehensive approaches to assess the impact of escalating nature - related economic and financial risks on price and financial stability, including integrated climate and nature risk analyses. 4 / 4 bis - central bankers'speeches