because inflation was so high. also, in the longer run, what is crucial for the real income of the savers is the state of the economy. a central bank has no influence on factors which determine the structural strength of an economy and thus the real, or inflation - adjusted, interest rates. standard : that ’ s not much help to savers today. praet : in the medium to longer term, our monetary policy will certainly help savers. we ’ re doing our part to help the economy recover. this will bring the rate of inflation back to our objective and subsequently bring the level of interest rates back to normal. therefore, the low interest rates may be a short - term pain for some, but a long - term gain for all. everybody in europe has an interest in us getting out of the current situation, which is marked by low inflation and low growth. we will succeed in doing so. but the crisis was so severe that this process is taking a number of years. standard : some economists say that it ’ ll be years before interest rates are higher. praet : there are always cassandras who speak badly about everything … standard : cassandra was right about her warnings. praet : yes, but prophecies that make people scared and become self - fulfilling can be dangerous. standard : the ecb started buying government bonds on a massive scale in january 2016. have you got any proof that the quantitative easing programme is taking effect? praet : yes. the first effect is that we have given a clear signal. when we lowered interest rates, credit conditions for companies in some countries rapidly improved. now, with quantitative easing in the background, loans for firms and the government sector have become significantly cheaper overall. bis central bankers ’ speeches standard : austria is the first country in europe to have initiated a bail - in, namely in the case of hypo alpe adria. why don ’ t eu institutions give more support to [ this measure ]? after all, it ’ s something that ’ s been fought for years. praet : we support the bail - in clause in the eu ’ s bank resolution and recovery directive. however, i cannot comment on specific cases, which come under the supervision of the single supervisory mechanism. bis central bankers ’ speeches

peter praet : interview in der standard interview with mr peter praet, member of the executive board of the european central bank, in der standard, conducted by mr andras szigetvari on 10 june 2015 and published on 13 june 2015. * * * standard : mr praet, the role of the ecb has changed since the outbreak of the crisis. you are now engaging in political debate, telling countries what reforms to implement. hasn ’ t the ecb stretched its mandate in order to maintain price stability? praet : as you know, the ecb takes monetary policy decisions to achieve its objective of maintaining price stability. we make our voice heard on structural reforms when it is considered necessary in the context of our mandate under the treaty. and, as mario draghi indicated in sintra, for members of a monetary union, resilience is crucial to avoid that shocks lead to permanent economic divergence over time ‒ it therefore has direct implications for price stability. in this sense, we are different from, for example, the federal reserve in the united states, which would never engage in such a debate. we frequently get the advice that we should just concentrate on our core business ‒ monetary policy. but, in a currency union like the euro area, individual countries have lost the flexibility provided by an exchange rate of their own. they must thus become more resilient to crises and external shocks. sound governance and effective institutions are of key importance. that applies, among other things, to labour and product markets, or courts and administration. they are needed for a more efficient monetary policy in a currency union and therefore we tell governments that structural reforms are important. here, our interest is not in how countries implement these reforms, that is up to them. what interests us is if they are successful, as this impacts the monetary union as a whole. however, i would also like to make the self - critical comment that, in the past, our messages have sounded too much like a mantra. standard : what do you mean? praet : in several respects, countries are similar as they are part of a monetary union, but in many respects they differ as a result of their national conditions. so there are various combinations of structural reforms that work – there is no “ one - size - fits - all ” model. we must make this clear, otherwise there may be the impression that our citizens don ’ t have much of a choice. we must convey