european central bank : press conference - introductory statement introductory statement by mr jean - claude trichet, president of the european central bank, frankfurt am main, 2 march 2006. * * * ladies and gentlemen, let me welcome you to our press conference and report on the outcome of today ’ s meeting of the ecb ’ s governing council. the meeting was also attended by the president of the eurogroup, prime minister juncker, and commissioner almunia. at today ’ s meeting, we decided to increase the key ecb interest rates by 25 basis points. this decision reflects the upside risks to price stability that we have identified on the basis of both our economic and monetary analyses. the adjustment of interest rates will contribute to ensuring that medium to long - term inflation expectations in the euro area remain solidly anchored at levels consistent with price stability, which is a prerequisite for monetary policy to make an ongoing contribution towards supporting economic growth and job creation in the euro area. interest rates across the entire maturity spectrum still remain at very low levels in both nominal and real terms, and our monetary policy remains accommodative. while this policy stance reflects our current assessment, we will continue to monitor closely all developments with respect to risks to price stability. allow me to explain our assessment in greater detail, starting with the economic analysis. according to eurostat ’ s flash estimate, quarter - on - quarter real gdp growth in the euro area was 0. 3 % in the fourth quarter of 2005. this was considerably lower than the strong 0. 6 % recorded in the previous quarter. however, looking through the short - term volatility and assessing recent economic indicators and survey information, the evidence suggests that economic activity is improving. accordingly, we should see stronger growth rates over the short term, as also reflected in various indicator - based estimates. looking further ahead, the conditions remain in place for ongoing economic expansion in the euro area. the external environment remains favourable, providing support for euro area exports. investment is expected to remain strong, benefiting from an extended period of very favourable financing conditions, corporate balance sheet restructuring and gains in earnings and business efficiency. consumption growth should also strengthen gradually over time, in line with developments in real disposable income, as the labour market situation gradually improves. the march ecb staff macroeconomic projections have provided an additional input into our analysis of the prospects for economic activity. these projections foresee average annual real gdp growth in a range between 1. 7 %

each case. ( 2 ) obtained using stratified method. ( 3 ) average of districts with structural growth breakdown, according to methodology of ferreira and gyourko ( 2011 ). source : central bank of chile based on internal revenue service ( sii ) data. bis central bankers ’ speeches figure 6 housing sales by building phase ( percentage of total ) completed finishes structural work other unfinished source : camara chilena de la construccion. figure 7 mortgage debt to collateral ratio ( * ) ( percentage ) ( * ) preliminary figures of new operations approved in respective quarter. source : superintendence of banks & financial institutions ( sbif ). bis central bankers ’ speeches figure 8 total loans ( real annual change, percentage ) - 10 - 10 system large multibanks medium - sized multibanks retail banks source : central bank of chile based on sbif data. bis central bankers ’ speeches