miguel fernandez ordonez : labour market experiences – towards more efficient labour markets opening speech by mr miguel fernandez ordonez, governor of the bank of spain, at the high - level seminar on labour market experiences : towards more efficient labour markets, international monetary fund ( imf ) – banco de espana, madrid, 11 may 2010. * * * let me first thank you all for accepting the invitation to participate in this high - level seminar on “ labour market experiences : towards more efficient labour markets ”. in particular i would like to thank olivier blanchard, chief economist at the international monetary fund, for participating in this event and accepting to share with me these introductory remarks. in fact, the idea of organising this seminar was originally from the imf, which last autumn suggested staging this event, mindful as it was of the potential role played by the spanish labour market institutions in explaining some of the specific inefficiencies of our economy. the fund viewed the conference as a way of promoting discussion about possible avenues of reform. the research department of the banco de espana then took up the imf ’ s baton, drawing on its long tradition of sound economic research and deep analysis on this topic. we are certainly proud to have been able to assemble such an eminent and diverse group of professionals on the occasion of this event in madrid. the range of participants and audience at this conference is precisely something i would like to stress, the main goal of the seminar being to promote an exchange of views and flow of ideas and thinking among the various groups having a say on this topic, namely academia, international organisations, policymakers, social agents and the private sector. only by covering all the different aspects and by sharing the different country experiences on this matter can we expect to make the right diagnosis of the problems and facilitate the acceptance and implementation of the reforms that might be needed. as you may be aware, i myself have repeatedly been suggesting the need for a labour market reform in spain. but it is not the goal of this conference to act as a platform for announcing or defending the views of the banco de espana. on the contrary, its spirit is to incorporate different views into the discussion and promote mutual learning. i should like particularly to stress the importance of grounding and testing our opinions and proposals in rigorous analytical and empirical economic research. the main idea i would like to convey in these introductory remarks is that if during the crisis economic policies have concentrated – with some justification – on measures that are intended to have a

mario draghi : hearing of the committee on economic and monetary affairs of the european parliament introductory statement by mr mario draghi, president of the european central bank, at the econ committee of the european parliament, brussels, 28 november 2016. * * * i am glad to be back at the european parliament just a week after the plenary debate on the ecb ’ s activities in 2015. this will be my last visit this year, so it is a good opportunity to reflect on upcoming challenges. in 2016 the euro area economy proved to be resilient, in spite of uncertainty stemming from the economic and political environment. inflation has gradually edged up, and the ecb ’ s monetary stimulus has been a key ingredient of the ongoing recovery. in my remarks today i will first focus on the upcoming challenges at global and euro area levels. then, at the request of this committee, i will discuss the still uncertain impact of brexit and its implications from a single market perspective. strengthening the recovery : responding to current challenges at global and euro area levels the global economy is expected to continue its recovery, although growth will remain slower than before the crisis. while showing signs of resilience, the global economy is facing significant political and economic uncertainties. in this context, one of the key takeaways from the 2016 world bank - imf annual meetings was that monetary policy cannot be the only game in town. it cannot generate sustainable and balanced growth on its own. to increase the effectiveness of monetary policy, fiscal and structural policies are needed that reinforce growth and make it more inclusive. the euro area economy continues to expand at a moderate but steady pace, despite the adverse effects of global economic and political uncertainty. this gradual upward trend is expected to continue, not least owing to our monetary policy measures. in particular, our very low policy interest rates, the favourable lending conditions in our targeted longer - term refinancing operations and our ongoing asset purchases have resulted in lower borrowing costs. firms are benefiting from improved conditions when seeking loans from banks and when issuing equity or new bonds. smaller firms are also benefiting, both via lower borrowing costs from banks and from the increased capacity of banks to grant loans, while larger firms are increasingly seeking funding from the financial markets. these conditions support higher consumption and investment. this is reflected by the gradually improving supply of loans to households and firms. still – if supported by decisive action taken by other policymakers – monetary policy measures in the euro area could be