we will discuss the reinvestment policy ; that will be a technical discussion. i don ’ t think it ’ s a major aspect of our monetary policy. with brexit it seems like we ’ ve had a major step ; on friday night, after 12 hours of discussions, theresa may managed to get some kind of blueprint. do you see this as good news or bad news? the ecb is not part of the negotiations. the negotiations between the united kingdom and europe are led by michel barnier on the european side. so we certainly defer to mr barnier when it comes to the political direction of those negotiations. it is clearly very positive that the uk authorities are willing to engage in a constructive way, in a practical way, in a detailed way. it will be for michel barnier to react to the paper. that said, and beyond the positive news in terms of how the discussion is moving on, we also believe at the ecb that private players, industry, have a responsibility to prepare for the worst outcome. so hope for the best, but prepare for the worst. in fact it seems like we have an agreement to have similar regulation in the industrial sector and the agricultural sector, but not the services sector. as we know, the financial services sector is what worries investors the most. is this the big concern here? i will defer to michel barnier to pass judgement on that. what we certainly believe very strongly – as does the european commission and as do all member states – is that the key principles which uphold the single market should not be harmed. certainly, a good solution should be found with the united kingdom, but that cannot be at the expense of the fundamental principles that have upheld the functioning of the single market. should the eu actually extend the deadline beyond march 2019 – if that ’ s a possibility – to have a better agreement? that ’ s part of the political discussion ; that ’ s not for us to decide. very finally, the eurozone budget – which is an idea wanted by the french president, emmanuel macron – seems to face a lot of opposition. do you think it ’ s a good idea? is it necessary and what could overcome this opposition? it is not an easy discussion. it ’ s a fundamentally political discussion that ’ s about sharing money, that ’ s about sharing sovereignty. it ’ s good the discussion has started. it ’ s good that ministers and leaders are discussing ways to make the eurozone more

monetary support is provided by the net asset purchases, by the sizeable stock of acquired assets and the forthcoming reinvestments, and by our forward guidance on interest rates. let me now explain our assessment in greater detail, starting with the economic analysis. real gdp increased by 0. 7 %, quarter on quarter, in the third quarter of 2017, following similar growth in the second quarter. the latest economic data and survey results indicate continued strong and broad - based growth momentum at the turn of the year. our monetary policy measures, which have facilitated the deleveraging process, continue to underpin domestic demand. private consumption is supported by rising employment, which is also benefiting from past labour market reforms, and by growing household wealth. business investment continues to strengthen on the back of very favourable financing conditions, rising corporate profitability and solid demand. housing investment has improved further over recent quarters. in addition, the broadbased global expansion is providing impetus to euro area exports. the risks surrounding the euro area growth outlook are assessed as broadly balanced. on the one hand, the prevailing strong cyclical momentum could lead to further positive growth surprises in the near term. on the other hand, downside risks continue to relate primarily to global factors, including developments in foreign exchange markets. 1 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches euro area annual hicp inflation was 1. 4 % in december 2017, down from 1. 5 % in november. this reflected mainly developments in energy prices. looking ahead, on the basis of current futures prices for oil, annual rates of headline inflation are likely to hover around current levels in the coming months. for their part, measures of underlying inflation remain subdued – in part owing to special factors – and have yet to show convincing signs of a sustained upward trend. yet, looking forward, they are expected to rise gradually over the medium term, supported by our monetary policy measures, the continuing economic expansion, the corresponding absorption of economic slack and rising wage growth. turning to the monetary analysis, broad money ( m3 ) continues to expand at a robust pace, with an annual rate of growth of 4. 9 % in november 2017, after 5. 0 % in october, reflecting the impact of the ecb ’ s monetary policy measures and the low opportunity cost of holding the most liquid deposits. accordingly, the narrow monetary aggregate m1 continued to be the main contributor to broad money growth, expanding at an annual rate of 9. 1 % in november, after 9. 4 % in