- term behaviour and developments at the expense of the necessarily medium - term orientation of monetary policy. at the same time, monetary and credit data can offer an important insight into how financial institutions, households and firms have responded to the financial market volatility. in this respect, monetary analysis adds significantly to the robustness of the assessment underlying our monetary policy decisions. in sum, available data suggests that economic activity in the euro area may continue to expand at rates close to potential output growth in the second half of 2007 and 2008. the sound fundamentals of the euro area economy – notably the healthy financial situation of the corporate sector and the strong labour market – bode well for a smooth absorption of the recent financial market turbulence. global economic activity is expected to remain robust and to provide support for euro area exports and investment. consumption in the euro area should contribute to growth in line with developments in real disposable income, as employment conditions remain supportive. at the same time, risks to price stability remain on the upside. there is, nevertheless, a high margin of uncertainty surrounding this outlook and risks for the economy are on the downside. they relate mainly to a potentially broader impact for a further discussion see the article entitled “ measured inflation and inflation perception in the euro area ” in the may 2007 issue of the monthly bulletin as well as the box on “ recent food price developments in world markets and the euro area ” in the september 2007 issue of the monthly bulletin. of the reappraisal of risk currently occurring in financial markets, possible disorderly developments related to global imbalances and protectionist pressures, as well as potential further oil and commodity price rises. labour productivity developments in the euro area one piece of the information jigsaw that the ecb puts together in its assessment of the economic situation and the outlook is the development of labour productivity. when we look at recent developments, data released by eurostat in spring 2007 showed a clear acceleration in labour productivity growth ( per person ) in 2006, reaching 1. 4 % growth compared with 0. 7 % in 2005. in year - on - year terms, labour productivity growth peaked at 1. 7 % in the fourth quarter of 2006. at sectoral level, positive developments in labour productivity were mainly driven by developments in industry ( excluding construction ). however, labour productivity growth in the services sector also showed signs of improvement, recording an increase of 0. 8 % year on year. these positive developments were welcomed by some economists as a reversal

mario draghi : ecb press conference – introductory statement introductory statement by mr mario draghi, president of the european central bank, frankfurt am main, 7 november 2013. * * * ladies and gentlemen, i am very pleased to welcome you to our press conference. i will now report on the outcome of today ’ s meeting of the governing council, during which we took a number of decisions on key ecb interest rates, forward guidance and liquidity provision. first, based on our regular economic and monetary analyses, we decided to lower the interest rate on the main refinancing operations of the eurosystem by 25 basis points to 0. 25 % and the rate on the marginal lending facility by 25 basis points to 0. 75 %. the rate on the deposit facility will remain unchanged at 0. 00 %. these decisions are in line with our forward guidance of july 2013, given the latest indications of further diminishing underlying price pressures in the euro area over the medium term, starting from currently low annual inflation rates of below 1 %. in keeping with this picture, monetary and, in particular, credit dynamics remain subdued. at the same time, inflation expectations for the euro area over the medium to long term continue to be firmly anchored in line with our aim of maintaining inflation rates below, but close to, 2 %. such a constellation suggests that we may experience a prolonged period of low inflation, to be followed by a gradual upward movement towards inflation rates below, but close to, 2 % later on. accordingly, our monetary policy stance will remain accommodative for as long as necessary. it will thereby also continue to assist the gradual economic recovery as reflected in confidence indicators up to october. second, following today ’ s rate cut, the governing council reviewed the forward guidance provided in july and confirmed that it continues to expect the key ecb interest rates to remain at present or lower levels for an extended period of time. this expectation continues to be based on an overall subdued outlook for inflation extending into the medium term, given the broad - based weakness of the economy and subdued monetary dynamics. third, we continue to monitor closely money market conditions and their potential impact on our monetary policy stance. we are ready to consider all available instruments and, in this context, we decided today to continue conducting the main refinancing operations ( mros ) as fixed rate tender procedures with full allotment for as long as necessary, and at least until the end of the 6th maintenance