to help both authorities and financial institutions assess the impact of climate risks over the next 30 3 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches years. conclusion when we announced the pepp one year ago, the governing council declared that it would do everything necessary within its mandate and explore all options and all contingencies to support the economy through this shock. looking back at the past year, i think we can affirm that we have delivered on this commitment. but there is no room for complacency – the ecb will continue to deliver on its mandate and support the recovery with all appropriate measures. i now stand ready to take your questions. 1 see “ ecb staff macroeconomic projections for the euro area, march 2021 ”, ecb, 11 march 2021. 4 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches

march 2021 ecb staff macroeconomic projections for the euro area, which foresee annual real gdp growth at 4. 0 per cent in 2021, 4. 1 per cent in 2022 and 2. 1 per cent in 2023, broadly unchanged compared with the december 2020 eurosystem staff macroeconomic projections. 1 the risks surrounding the euro area growth outlook over the medium term have become more balanced owing to better prospects for the global economy and progress in vaccination campaigns. however, downside risks remain in the near term, mainly related to the spread of virus mutations and the implications of the ongoing pandemic for economic and financial 1 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches conditions. euro area annual inflation has picked up over recent months, mainly on account of some transitory factors. headline inflation is likely to increase in the coming months, but some volatility is expected throughout 2021 reflecting the changing dynamics of the idiosyncratic factors which are currently pushing inflation up but which can be expected to fade out early next year. underlying price pressures are expected to increase somewhat this year due to current supply constraints and the recovery in domestic demand. nevertheless, we judge that these pressures will remain subdued overall, also reflecting low wage dynamics and the past appreciation of the euro. once the impact of the pandemic fades, the unwinding of the high level of slack, supported by accommodative fiscal and monetary policies, will contribute to a gradual increase in inflation over the medium term. survey - based measures and market - based indicators of longer - term inflation expectations remain at subdued levels. while our latest staff projection exercise foresees a gradual increase in underlying inflation pressures, the medium - term inflation outlook – with projected annual inflation at 1. 5 per cent in 2021, 1. 2 per cent in 2022 and 1. 4 per cent in 2023 – remains broadly unchanged from the staff projections in december 2020 and below our inflation aim. the ecb ’ s monetary policy stance and effectiveness against this background, preserving favourable financing conditions over the pandemic period remains essential to reduce uncertainty and bolster confidence, thereby underpinning economic activity and safeguarding medium - term price stability. let me further elaborate on our assessment of financing conditions. this is defined by a holistic and multifaceted set of indicators. it is holistic because we consider a broad array of indicators, spanning the entire transmission chain of monetary policy from risk - free interest rates and sovereign bond yields to corporate bond yields