that are eligible for regular purchases ( as of 11. 03. 2016, the ecb has purchased under the app programme : €801. 2 billion : pspp holdings : €620. 5 billion, abspp holdings : €19. 1 billion, cbpp3 : €161. 6 billion. breakdown : €46 billion on the primary and €115. 6 billion on the secondary market. ) a new series of four targeted longer - term refinancing operations ( tltro ii ), each with a maturity of four years, will be launched in june 2016. my short comment on the above measures is that they are a combination of quantitative easing with credit easing, namely a widening of qe as seen from the higher amount of monthly purchases, and credit easing as evident in the eligibility of corporate debt for ecb purchases, plus of course the second round of tltros, meaning literally that the central bank pays commercial banks to provide loans to businesses. bis central bankers ’ speeches why did ecb president mario draghi decide to proceed even further with the above expansionary monetary policy, eleven months after the initiation of the program? 2. the current economic outlook of the euro area the answer to the above question lies in the euro area economic outlook. core inflation fell to 0. 8 % in february ( flash estimate ), down from 1. 0 % in january. according to ecb forecasts in march 2016, inflation in the euro area is now projected to be at a very low level ( 0. 1 % ) on an annual average basis in 2016, before rebounding to 1. 3 % in 2017 and 1. 6 % in 2018. inflation expectations, as measured by the five - year inflation - linked swap rate, declined to a historic low of 1. 37 %, compared with 1. 7 % just prior to the start of the pspp. gdp growth has been revised downwards by 0. 4 percentage point, to 1. 4 % for 2016 ; for 2017 and 2018, real gdp is expected to grow by 1. 7 % ( revised downwards by 0. 1 percentage point ) and 1. 8 %, respectively. in short, it seems that up to this point the qe programme had a rather minimal impact on inflation or inflation expectations and growth in the eurozone. from my point of view, three main factors have contributed to the inability of inflation to increase. first, supply - side factors have been deflationary, as

the figure below, one can see that global flows of data have outpaced traditional trade and financial flows ( see figure 8 ). 10 / 26 bis central bankers'speeches 3. 3 an increased role for regional poles the rise of powerful regions is visible in economic terms, as the centre of gravity of the economy has been moving to the east. this new multipolarity leads to new relationships of interdependence between nations, widening their common interests and creating new regional blocs around the world ’ s major superpowers. the rise of china is certainly indicative of the shift to a multipolar world away from a world exclusively dominated by the economic power of the us, along with its western european allies. china has already become an economic superpower and the economies comprising the association of southeast asian nations ( asean ), now the world ’ s fourth largest trading bloc in terms of gdp, have significantly benefited from the china ’ s rise, given that china is asean ’ s most important trade partner. trade volume between china and asean countries hit a record high in 2017 at us $ 514. 8 billion, having recorded the fastest growth pace ( 13. 8 % ) year - on - year between china and any of its major trading partners. total asean trade has increased by about us $ 1 trillion between 2007 and 2014, with intra - asean trade comprising the largest share of asean ’ s total trade by partner. china ’ s exports to asean countries reached us $ 279. 1 billion in 2017, up by 9 % year - on - year, while imports grew by 20 % year - on - year to stand at us $ 235. 7 billion. china is also africa ’ s largest economic partner in terms of goods trade, infrastructure financing and new fdis. 11 / 26 bis central bankers'speeches trade regionalism is also evident in our own continent. figure 10 shows that half of eurozone cross - border investment is within the region! 12 / 26 bis central bankers'speeches 4. the aspect of politics and security globalisation has multiple benefits. it contributes to economic growth, creates export - oriented jobs, helps the transition of more countries to capitalism and democracy, which in turn has a potential to enhance growth and improve the well - being of people suffering from tyranny and civil war, but also reducing the number of weak or failed states that host terrorists and criminal cartels. it has also linked potential adversaries in mutually beneficial relationships, thus making the prospect of