luis de guindos : presentation of the european central bank annual report 2019 to the committee on economic and monetary affairs of the european parliament introductory remarks ( by videoconference ) by mr luis de guindos, vice - president of the european central bank, to the committee on economic and monetary affairs of the european parliament, frankfurt am main, 7 may 2020. * * * madam chair, honourable members of the committee on economic and monetary affairs, ladies and gentlemen, i welcome the opportunity to appear before this committee today despite the difficult circumstances. a strong relationship between the ecb and the european parliament is more important than ever, as europe is confronted with an extraordinary crisis. in addition to the health emergency, the coronavirus, or covid - 19, pandemic poses severe economic challenges to the euro area. through exchanges such as this we can demonstrate and explain how eu institutions are acting, within their mandate, to serve the european people in these difficult times. today we are publishing the ecb ’ s annual report for 2019, together with the written feedback on your resolution on our previous annual report. since the cut - off date for the annual report 2019, the outbreak of the covid - 19 pandemic has had significant effects on the economy and the ecb has taken extraordinary measures in response to this crisis. therefore, allow me to focus my remarks on the current economic environment. i am of course also happy to discuss the ecb ’ s activities in 2019 as covered in the annual report, and answer any questions you may have about them. i will start by presenting the assessment of the economic outlook and the measures taken by the ecb thus far. i will then discuss in more detail the impact of the covid - 19 pandemic on the financial sector, and conclude by examining the role that the eu ’ s financial agenda could play in the recovery phase. the 2020 economic outlook and the ecb ’ s recent decisions europe and the world are facing an economic contraction of extraordinary magnitude and speed. the measures imposed to contain the spread of the coronavirus have largely halted many economic activities. while these containment measures hit the services sector immediately, they also took their toll on the manufacturing sector. according to preliminary estimates, the euro area economy contracted by 3. 8 percent quarter on quarter in the first quarter of 2020, which only partially reflects the severity of the ensuing downturn. consumer and business sentiment indicators for april have in fact plunged, suggesting an even larger contraction in the second

luis de guindos : interview with ert tv ( hellenic broadcasting corporation ) interview by mr luis de guindos, vice - president of the european central bank, with ert tv ( hellenic broadcasting corporation ), conducted by ms rallou alexopoulou on 3 february 2020 and broadcast ( in part ) on 3 february 2020. * * * the asset purchase programme ( app ) was restarted in november 2019, with no specific expiry date. greece is currently not eligible to participate in the programme. however, fitch upgraded greece ’ s credit rating to bb on 24 january and the outlook is positive. do you think greece could catch up and benefit from the app if it becomes eligible in the course of this year or the next? i think the situation is quite clear. the evolution of the greek economy is positive and i think this is what has been reflected in the upgrades by the rating agencies. so, once greek bonds reach investment grade, which i hope will be sooner rather than later, they will certainly be part of the app. greece still has the highest level of non - performing loans ( npls ) in the eu. the greek government has already launched the “ hercules ” plan in an effort to reduce the stock of npls, and more actions are planned. taking into account the ongoing normalisation of the greek financial sector, what are the prospects for the banks to provide the necessary efficient allocation of credit in greece, with the aim of supporting economic activity and growth? when you look at the progress of the greek economy, you realise that it is performing quite well. greece is outperforming the majority of its peers. i think this is because it has a more competitive economy and its fiscal situation is much better than it was two or three years ago. i think the only problematic aspect of the greek economy is the npl ratio, which is very high – as you know it is above 40 %. this makes it difficult for banks to provide credit to the economy, to lend to households and non - financial corporations. so, we at the ecb are convinced that it is crucial that greece further reduces its npl ratio. and i think that every possible instrument has to be used in order to do that. the hercules plan is an important instrument. we will do our best to support npl resolution. there are currently some legal impediments, but it is crucial that these restrictions are taken into consideration and lifted in order to continue reducing the number of