inflation reaching 1. 7 % in each of the next three years. these are the latest in a series of projections that have pointed to a convergence of headline inflation towards the governing council ’ s inflation aim. regarding confidence, uncertainty around the projected path of inflation has diminished. moreover, underlying inflation has increased from the very low levels observed in 2016 and is expected to rise amid an expanding economy, high levels of capacity utilisation and labour market tightening. stronger underlying inflation pressures, in turn, should pass through to headline inflation. in terms of resilience, the projected path of inflation is expected to be maintained even after a gradual ending of net asset purchases. on the basis of this assessment, the governing council concluded that substantial progress has been made towards a sustained adjustment. given the underlying strength of the euro area economy, together with well - anchored longer - term inflation expectations, we are confident that the sustained convergence of inflation towards our aim will continue in the period ahead, even after a gradual winding - down of our net asset purchases. as a result, we took a number of decisions in june. first – subject to incoming data confirming our medium - term inflation outlook – we anticipate reducing the monthly net asset purchases from €30 billion to €15 billion at the end of september 2018 and ending net asset purchases at the end of december 2018. second, we intend to continue reinvesting the principal payments from maturing securities purchased under the asset purchase programme for an extended period of time after the end of net purchases, and in any case for as long as necessary to maintain favourable liquidity conditions and an ample degree of monetary policy accommodation. 2 / 5 bis central bankers'speeches third, we expect the key ecb interest rates to remain at their present levels at least through the summer of 2019, and in any case for as long as necessary to ensure that the evolution of inflation remains aligned with our current expectations of a sustained adjustment path. together, these measures will continue to provide the necessary degree of monetary policy accommodation to bring inflation back towards a level that is below, but close to, 2 %. looking ahead, monetary policy will continue to be firmly guided by the outlook for price stability and our stance will evolve in a data - dependent and time - consistent manner. having reflected on the current economic situation in the euro area and the corresponding monetary policy stance, let me now turn to the future, notably to governance of emu. emu governance the ecb ’ s monetary policy measures introduced

sabine lautenschlager : interview in der standard interview with ms sabine lautenschlager, member of the executive board of the european central bank, in der standard, conducted by mr andras szigetvari on 27 march 2019 and published on 1 april 2019. * * * can you enlighten us : is the ecb stealing interest income from savers, are savers being dispossessed? many german economists and politicians are convinced of exactly that, leading them to harshly criticise the ecb leadership under mario draghi. i appreciate that people are concerned, it ’ s true that putting money into a savings account these days will earn you very little interest. but it ’ s also true to say that people can only save if they have a job and earn enough money to put some savings aside. our monetary policy has made an important contribution to boosting employment and wage growth. and people are not only savers, but also entrepreneurs and home buyers, who benefit from low interest rates. so the question we need to ask ourselves is : if the ecb had not taken certain measures in the past, what state would the economy be in today? and how would you answer that? there was a high risk of deflation in the euro area. deflation would have meant falling prices, with people therefore postponing their purchasing decisions in anticipation of prices falling even further. at the same time, firms would have reined in investment and there would have been job cuts. that is a vicious circle. so it was absolutely right to counteract this danger by lowering interest rates and to generally loosen monetary policy in order for us to bring inflation to a level below, but close to, 2 %. the ecb has now bought government bonds and other securities amounting to €2. 6 trillion. interest rates have been at zero for years. you are offering banks unlimited credit, as long as they can back it with appropriate collateral. the official motivation for taking all these measures was to bring the inflation rate up to just below 2 %. that is the ecb ’ s inflation target. but inflation is currently at 1. 5 % and the ecb has fallen short of 2 % for years. so what is the point of it all? again, we had to respond to the risk of deflation ; and we have come nearer to our aim of maintaining an appropriate level of inflation over the medium term. our actions have had an effect : lending to households