not just the south east – as well as credit indicated that the strong consumption growth over the past year might persist. and house prices, i should add, enter our decisions, because of their implications for future consumption, not because we are trying to target house or indeed any other asset prices. unemployment was still falling : the labour force survey measure of unemployment had reached its lowest rate since the series started, while the claimant count had fallen to its lowest level since 1980. the bank ’ s regional agents had also noted tightness for both the skilled and unskilled. oil prices had risen sharply during the year. these factors led a majority of the committee to vote for a modest rise in interest rates of twenty - five basis points in order to keep inflation on track to meet the 2½ % target. the task now is to continue looking ahead. to do this the mpc has to assess the prospective balance between demand and supply in the economy as a whole. that requires an analysis of both demand and supply developments. the interesting feature of recent quarters has been the combination of strong demand growth and a tight labour market, on the one hand, with weak wage and price pressures, on the other. so the mpc monitors monetary data as well as signs of tightness in both labour and product markets in order to detect early warning signs of inflationary pressures. the mpc needs as much timely and accurate information as possible. official statistics and surveys provide an excellent starting point. but they often need to be complemented by more timely and focussed information on particular aspects of the economy. so the bank has a network of twelve agencies, which gather economic intelligence from all parts of the united kingdom – from cornwall to the highlands, and from county tyrone to the norfolk broads. the task of these agencies is to provide information on the state of the local economy. in total, the agents have around 7, 000 business contacts covering all sectors of the economy from farming to finance and textiles to tourism. our scottish agent, janet bulloch, who is with us tonight, is well known to many of you. i would like to thank those of you who give your valuable time to see janet and her team. she and her staff see some 500 business contacts a year, and report the information gathered directly to the monetary policy committee. in addition, members of the mpc themselves make regular visits to different parts of the country to listen and learn. and i shall be doing that during my visit to scotland.

mario draghi : ecb press conference - introductory statement introductory statement by mr mario draghi, president of the european central bank, and mr luis de guindos, vice - president of the european central bank, frankfurt am main, 26 july 2018. * * * ladies and gentlemen, the vice - president and i are very pleased to welcome you to our press conference. we will now report on the outcome of today ’ s meeting of the governing council. based on our regular economic and monetary analyses, we decided to keep the key ecb interest rates unchanged. we continue to expect them to remain at their present levels at least through the summer of 2019, and in any case for as long as necessary to ensure the continued sustained convergence of inflation to levels that are below, but close to, 2 % over the medium term. regarding non - standard monetary policy measures, we will continue to make net purchases under the asset purchase programme ( app ) at the current monthly pace of €30 billion until the end of september 2018. we anticipate that, after september 2018, subject to incoming data confirming our medium - term inflation outlook, we will reduce the monthly pace of the net asset purchases to €15 billion until the end of december 2018 and then end net purchases. we intend to reinvest the principal payments from maturing securities purchased under the app for an extended period of time after the end of our net asset purchases, and in any case for as long as necessary to maintain favourable liquidity conditions and an ample degree of monetary accommodation. while uncertainties, notably related to the global trade environment, remain prominent, the information available since our last monetary policy meeting indicates that the euro area economy is proceeding along a solid and broad - based growth path. the underlying strength of the economy confirms our confidence that the sustained convergence of inflation to our aim will continue in the period ahead and will be maintained even after a gradual winding - down of our net asset purchases. nevertheless, significant monetary policy stimulus is still needed to support the further build - up of domestic price pressures and headline inflation developments over the medium term. this support will continue to be provided by the net asset purchases until the end of the year, by the sizeable stock of acquired assets and the associated reinvestments, and by our enhanced forward guidance on the key ecb interest rates. in any event, the governing council stands ready to adjust all of its instruments as appropriate to ensure that inflation continues to move towards the governing council ’ s