the european observation period, the banks need to integrate this new standard into their liquidity management policies as of today. this means that as we now have clear rules, the necessary structural changes must be undertaken. in 2013 we will pursue our efforts on the 1 - year liquidity ratio, but also on the links between monetary policy and the liquidity ratio. 2. 3 in the field of savings, the reallocation of household ’ s financial investments towards bank savings products in 2011 continued in 2012. the raising of the ceiling of the “ a ” passbook savings account and of the sustainable development account led to two months of significant inflows for these products in october and november, and the ceiling of the “ a ” passbook savings was again raised on 1 january of this year. i am perfectly aware that these adjustments to france ’ s regulated savings generate tensions for the collection of bank resources and life insurance premiums. however, i call upon the institutions of the paris financial centre to continue demonstrating prudence and responsibility in their search for client resources. the banque de france and the prudential supervisory authority will be vigilant in this respect. it is vital that market conditions be fully accounted for in setting the level of interest on financial products, whether offered by banks or life insurers. it is also best if preference is given to the collection of long - term savings that are indispensable for financing the economy. indeed, i am actively seeking the support of the government with regard to this objective. the bank will seek to ease the individual adaptations required by these numerous new regulatory frameworks. in particular we will strive to facilitate the management of liquidity and collateral, notably by continuing to support the mobilisation of lending to the economy via refinancing operations with the central bank, but also via markets. in this perspective, and at the initiative of the banque de france, a paris financial centre working group has been set up to develop innovative and safe securitisation mechanisms that should allow banks to make better use of the pool of claims on their balance sheets and to strengthen their financing capacities. the bank will also continue to mobilise all parties concerned, and in particular companies, in order to accelerate and successfully implement france ’ s migration to sepa payment instruments that should be finalised by 1 february 2014 for credit transfers and direct debits. when the system is operational, all parties will benefit from advantages in terms of cost, efficiency, payment

mario draghi : ecb press conference – introductory statement introductory statement by mr mario draghi, president of the european central bank, frankfurt am main, 3 april 2014. * * * 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, which was also attended by the commission vice - president, mr rehn. based on our regular economic and monetary analyses, we decided to keep the key ecb interest rates unchanged. incoming information confirms that the moderate recovery of the euro area economy is proceeding in line with our previous assessment. at the same time, recent information remains consistent with our expectation of a prolonged period of low inflation followed by a gradual upward movement in hicp inflation rates. the signals from the monetary analysis confirm the picture of subdued underlying price pressures in the euro area over the medium term. 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 %. looking ahead, we will monitor developments very closely and will consider all instruments available to us. we are resolute in our determination to maintain a high degree of monetary accommodation and to act swiftly if required. hence, we do not exclude further monetary policy easing and we firmly reiterate that we continue to expect the key ecb interest rates to remain at present or lower levels for an extended period of time. this expectation is based on an overall subdued outlook for inflation extending into the medium term, given the broadbased weakness of the economy, the high degree of unutilised capacity and subdued money and credit creation. at the same time, we are closely following developments on money markets. the governing council is unanimous in its commitment to using also unconventional instruments within its mandate in order to cope effectively with risks of a too prolonged period of low inflation. let me now explain our assessment in greater detail, starting with the economic analysis. real gdp in the euro area rose by 0. 2 %, quarter on quarter, in the last quarter of 2013, after 0. 1 % and 0. 3 % in the previous two quarters respectively. survey data that encompass the first quarter of this year are consistent with continued moderate growth, confirming previous expectations that the ongoing recovery is increasingly supported by firmer domestic demand. looking ahead, some further improvement in domestic demand should materialise, supported by the accom