john hurley : recent economic and financial developments in ireland address by mr john hurley, governor of the central bank & financial services authority of ireland, at the russian bankers ’ federation conference on “ the transition to the market economy : actual problems in the economic and finanical sectors ”, dublin, 20 april 2004. * * * ladies and gentlemen, let me begin by welcoming you to ireland. i hope that you will find this conference helpful and that you can draw on some of the lessons learned from ireland ’ s experience in our transition to a more market - oriented economy. initially, i will briefly outline the main metamorphoses undergone as our economy developed to a stage where standards of living are now broadly comparable to those of other advanced european economies. the process of income convergence was ‘ telescoped ’ into a relatively short period compared with many other countries. however, the fundamental factors underlying the convergence are based on lessons learned over a significantly longer period. i will go on to speak about monetary and exchange policy in ireland prior to our entry to the exchange rate mechanism of the european monetary system, our experience in the mechanism itself and our experience in the euro area. i will also give some indication of the current economic outlook. economic development and policies in ireland. for much of the first half of the last century, ireland adopted predominantly protectionist, heavily regulated and inward - looking policies with the focus largely on promoting domestic indigenous industries behind high tariff barriers. these policies ultimately proved to be unsuccessful, as employment stagnated, emigration became endemic, and living standards, as measured by gdp per capita, remained persistently well below european levels. coupled with the protectionist policies of the time, the state played a relatively major role in the commercial life of the economy. with few major industries or wealthy individuals in the country at the time of our independence, a strategy of creating state - sponsored bodies to fill the gaps left by the lack of private enterprise was adopted. state companies were established in areas such as banking, transport and resource - based utilities. by the 1970s the state still played an extensive role in most areas of the economy. however, since then the role of the state has diminished considerably. there was a fundamental shift in thinking about a decade and a half or so before ireland joined the eu in 1973, with a move away from protectionist inward - looking policies to one of opening up the economy to trade and investment. this entailed a policy of encouraging foreign - owned firms to establish manufacturing bases

mario draghi : hearing at the committee on economic and monetary affairs of the european parliament introductory statement by mr mario draghi, president of the european central bank, before the hearing at the committee on economic and monetary affairs of the european parliament, brussels, 21 june 2016. * * * mr chairman, honourable members of the economic and monetary affairs committee, ladies and gentlemen, i am grateful to be back speaking to your committee for the second hearing of this year. let me first say that the ecb takes note of today ’ s judgement of the federal german constitutional court. this judgement confirms the ruling of the court of justice of the european union which concluded that the omt programme is compatible with eu law and falls within our mandate. in my remarks today, i will review the state of the euro area recovery and the recent monetary policy measures adopted by the ecb. then, at the request of this committee, i will discuss the investment outlook, outlining in particular why more action is needed to boost investment demand in the euro area. economic outlook and the ecb ’ s monetary policy as regards economic developments, the recovery of the euro area economy gained momentum at the start of the year. it is expected to proceed at a moderate but steady pace, supported by solid domestic demand and the effective pass - through of our monetary policy measures to the real economy. consumers are benefiting from still relatively low oil prices and improved employment prospects. likewise, investment is edging up, supported by higher corporate profits and favourable financing conditions. looking forwards, according to the june 2016 eurosystem staff macroeconomic projections for the euro area, annual real gdp is expected to increase by 1. 6 % this year and by 1. 7 % in the next two years. at the same time, inflation dynamics in the euro area remain rather subdued. the rate of headline inflation was slightly negative in may and is expected to hover at low levels over the coming months. while lower oil prices continue to act as a drag on the annual headline inflation, domestic price pressures, notably from wage growth, also remain muted, reflecting persistent economic slack. according to the eurosystem staff projections, inflation should pick up towards the end of 2016. thereafter, inflation is expected to increase further to 1. 3 % in 2017 and to 1. 6 % in 2018, as a strengthening economic recovery mobilises unused resources. since the start of our credit easing measures in june 2014, bank lending rates for firms and households have fallen by about