mario draghi : ecb press conference - introductory statement introductory statement by mr mario draghi, president of the european central bank, and mr luis de guindos, vice - president of the european central bank, frankfurt am main, 12 september 2019. * * * ladies and gentlemen, the vice - president and i are very pleased to welcome you to our press conference. we will now report on the outcome of today ’ s meeting of the governing council. based on our regular economic and monetary analyses, we have conducted a thorough assessment of the economic and inflation outlook, also taking into account the latest staff macroeconomic projections for the euro area. as a result, the governing council took the following decisions in pursuit of its price stability objective. first, as regards the key ecb interest rates, we decided to lower the interest rate on the deposit facility by 10 basis points to – 0. 50 %. the interest rate on the main refinancing operations and the rate on the marginal lending facility will remain unchanged at their current levels of 0. 00 % and 0. 25 % respectively. we now expect the key ecb interest rates to remain at their present or lower levels until we have seen the inflation outlook robustly converge to a level sufficiently close to, but below, 2 % within our projection horizon, and such convergence has been consistently reflected in underlying inflation dynamics. second, the governing council decided to restart net purchases under its asset purchase programme ( app ) at a monthly pace of €20 billion as from 1 november. we expect them to run for as long as necessary to reinforce the accommodative impact of our policy rates, and to end shortly before we start raising the key ecb interest rates. third, we intend to continue reinvesting, in full, the principal payments from maturing securities purchased under the app for an extended period of time past the date when we start raising the key ecb interest rates, and in any case for as long as necessary to maintain favourable liquidity conditions and an ample degree of monetary accommodation. fourth, we decided to change the modalities of the new series of quarterly targeted longer - term refinancing operations ( tltro iii ) to preserve favourable bank lending conditions, ensure the smooth transmission of monetary policy and further support the accommodative stance of monetary policy. the interest rate in each operation will now be set at the level of the average rate applied in the eurosystem ’ s main refinanc

areas must contribute much more decisively, both at the national and at the european level. the implementation of structural reforms in particular needs to be substantially stepped up to reduce structural unemployment and boost potential output growth in the euro area. structural reforms are necessary in all euro area countries. the focus should be on actions to raise 2 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches productivity and improve the business environment, including the provision of an adequate public infrastructure, which are vital to increase investment and boost job creation. the enhancement of current investment initiatives, progress on the capital markets union and reforms that will improve the resolution of non - performing loans will also contribute positively to this objective. in an environment of accommodative monetary policy, the swift and effective implementation of structural reforms will also make the euro area more resilient to global shocks. fiscal policies should also support the economic recovery, while remaining in compliance with the fiscal rules of the european union. full and consistent implementation of the stability and growth pact over time and across countries remains crucial to ensure confidence in the fiscal framework. at the same time, it is essential that all countries intensify efforts towards achieving a more growth - friendly composition of fiscal policies. we are now at your disposal for questions. 3 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches