be managed to avoid interference with the appropriate monetary policy stance. in terms of interest rate policy, the governing council expects to keep policy rates at their current or lower levels until we have seen the inflation outlook robustly converge to our inflation aim within our projection horizon, and such convergence has been consistently reflected in underlying inflation dynamics. the concept of robust convergence signals that we require a high degree of confidence that the inflation outlook has durably approached the inflation aim, while the condition that convergence should also be evident in realised underlying inflation means that future rate tightening will not run ahead of the hard data in terms of the out - turns for underlying inflation. given this “ double hurdle ” set of conditions, our forward guidance represents a strong commitment to keep financial conditions at highly accommodative levels for as long as necessary to lift inflation to our inflation aim in a sustainable fashion. in line with our forward guidance, market - based expectations of future policy rates and the future path of the app have adjusted in response to changes to the inflation outlook. compared to september 2019, chart 5 shows that the date of the policy rate lift - off implicit in the eonia forward curve – the term structure of expectations for the overnight rate ( and associated risk premia ) – has shifted from december 2022 to august 2024. similarly, market surveys have shown a similar outward shift for the expected end date of net purchases under the app. through these endogenous market responses, our forward guidance acts as an automatic stabiliser through the adjustment of monetary policy expectations – and hence the entire spectrum of monetary conditions – to changes in the inflation outlook. chart 5 eonia forward curve and lift - off dates ( percentages per annum ) https : / / www. ecb. europa. eu / press / key / date / 2020 / html / ecb. sp201006 ~ e1d38a1ccc. en. html 6 / 12 07 / 10 / 2020 the ecb ’ s monetary policy in the pandemic : meeting the challenge sources : bloomberg and ecb calculations. notes : dotted lines indicated lift - off dates based on the trough of the curve plus 10 basis points. the latest observations are for 2 october 2020. the combination of our pre - pandemic and pandemic - specific monetary policy measures has successfully contributed to the stabilisation of markets and has thereby helped to ensure the smooth transmission of our monetary policy. [ 7 ] as shown in chart 6, the pepp

european central bank : press conference – introductory statement introductory statement by mr jean - claude trichet, president of the european central bank, and mr vitor constancio, vice - president of the european central bank, frankfurt am main, 3 march 2011. * * * 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, which was also attended by commissioner rehn. based on its regular economic and monetary analyses, the governing council decided to leave the key ecb interest rates unchanged. the information which has become available since our meeting on 3 february 2011 indicates a rise in inflation, largely reflecting higher commodity prices. the economic analysis indicates that risks to the outlook for price developments are on the upside, while the underlying pace of monetary expansion remains moderate. recent economic data confirm that the underlying momentum of economic activity in the euro area remains positive ; however, uncertainty remains elevated. the current very accommodative stance of monetary policy lends considerable support to economic activity. it is essential that the recent rise in inflation does not give rise to broad - based inflationary pressures over the medium term. strong vigilance is warranted with a view to containing upside risks to price stability. overall, the governing council remains prepared to act in a firm and timely manner to ensure that upside risks to price stability over the medium term do not materialise. the continued firm anchoring of inflation expectations is of the essence. the governing council today also decided to continue conducting its main refinancing operations ( mros ) and the special - term refinancing operations with a maturity of one maintenance period as fixed rate tender procedures with full allotment for as long as necessary, and at least until the end of the sixth maintenance period of 2011 on 12 july 2011. furthermore, the governing council decided to conduct the three - month longer - term refinancing operations ( ltros ) to be allotted on 27 april, 25 may and 29 june 2011 as fixed rate tender procedures with full allotment. the rates in these three - month operations will be fixed at the average rate of the mros over the life of the respective ltro. as we have stated before, the provision of liquidity and the allotment modes will be adjusted as appropriate, taking into account the fact that all the non - standard measures taken during the period of acute financial market tensions are, by construction,