, in particular the slowdown in the euro area economy is a cause for concern. in conclusion, taking the latest available evidence into account, at today ’ s meeting the governing council confirmed its assessment regarding the outlook for price developments. the governing council therefore decided to keep ecb interest rates unchanged at the levels currently prevailing. i should now like to inform you about some other matters considered today. the auction technique for the longer - term refinancing operations was reviewed by the governing council today. in its first two longer - term refinancing operations ( settled on 14 january and 25 february 1999 ), which are as a rule conducted by means of variable rate tenders, the eurosystem applied the single rate ( “ dutch ” ) method of allotment. the single rate method was chosen in order to encourage less experienced counterparties to participate in the tender. the governing council takes the view that all interested counterparties should by now be sufficiently accustomed to the longerterm refinancing operation also to be in a position to participate in this type of operation under the more market - oriented multiple rate ( “ american ” ) method of allotment. against this background, the governing council has decided that the multiple rate method of allotment will be applied starting from the next longer - term refinancing operation ( to be settled on 25 march 1999 ), until otherwise indicated. finally, let me inform you that the general council today discussed the monetary policies of the central banks of the non - participating member states against the background of the monetary policy set by the eurosystem. as you will know, the general council has taken over those tasks of the european monetary institute ( emi ) which still have to be performed during stage three because of the derogations of some member states. one of these tasks relates to strengthening the co - ordination of the monetary policies in the community with the aim of ensuring price stability. the general council intends to conduct these co - ordination exercises biannually in future.

inflation. food price inflation and underlying price pressures across the economy have strengthened and will persist for some time. amid exceptional uncertainty, eurosystem staff have significantly revised up their inflation projections. they now see average inflation reaching 8. 4 per cent in 2022 before decreasing to 6. 3 per cent in 2023, with inflation expected to decline markedly over the course of the year. inflation is then projected to average 3. 4 per cent in 2024 and 2. 3 per cent in 1 / 4 bis - central bankers'speeches 2025. inflation excluding energy and food is projected to be 3. 9 per cent on average in 2022 and to rise to 4. 2 per cent in 2023, before falling to 2. 8 per cent in 2024 and 2. 4 per cent in 2025. the euro area economy may contract in the current quarter and the next quarter, owing to the energy crisis, high uncertainty, weakening global economic activity and tighter financing conditions. according to the latest eurosystem staff projections, a recession would be relatively short - lived and shallow. growth is nonetheless expected to be subdued next year and has been revised down significantly compared with the previous projections. beyond the near term, growth is projected to recover as the current headwinds fade. overall, the eurosystem staff projections now see the economy growing by 3. 4 per cent in 2022, 0. 5 per cent in 2023, 1. 9 per cent in 2024 and 1. 8 per cent in 2025. the decisions taken today are set out in a press release available on our website. i will now outline in more detail how we see the economy and inflation developing and will then explain our assessment of financial and monetary conditions. economic activity economic growth in the euro area slowed to 0. 3 per cent in the third quarter of the year. high inflation and tighter financing conditions are dampening spending and production by reducing real household incomes and pushing up costs for firms. the world economy is also slowing, in a context of continued geopolitical uncertainty, especially owing to russia's unjustified war against ukraine and its people, and tighter financing conditions worldwide. the past deterioration in the terms of trade, reflecting the faster rise in import prices than in export prices, continues to weigh on purchasing power in the euro area. on the positive side, employment increased by 0. 3 per cent in the third quarter, and unemployment hit a new historical low of 6. 5 per cent in october.