an announcement would be made in november with regard to the decision on the public relations agency selected to prepare and execute a europe - wide information campaign for the introduction of the euro banknotes and coins on 1 january 2002. in this regard, i am now pleased to announce that the governing council has decided to negotiate the contract with publicis. further information on this matter can be found in a separate press release which will be issued this afternoon. finally, i should like to draw your attention to the fact that the second meeting of the governing council to be held in december has been rescheduled. as announced yesterday, the meeting has been brought forward from thursday 16 december 1999, to wednesday 15 december 1999, in order to enable several governing council members to attend a first gathering of a new forum consisting of ministers of finance and central bank governors ( the so - called “ g20 ” ), which is to be held in berlin on 16 december 1999.

mr duisenberg reports on the outcome of the latest meeting of the ecb governing council introductory statement given by dr willem f duisenberg, president of the european central bank, to the press conference, held in frankfurt on 4 november 1999. * * * ladies and gentlemen, the vice - president and i are here to report on today ’ s meeting of the governing council of the ecb. the outcome of today ’ s meeting was that the governing council has decided to increase the ecb interest rates. the forthcoming main refinancing operations of the eurosystem will be conducted as fixed rate tenders at an interest rate of 3. 0 %, starting with the operation to be settled on 10 november 1999. this increase implies an upward adjustment of 50 basis points from the rate of 2. 5 % applied to previous such operations. in addition, the interest rate on the marginal lending facility will be increased from 3. 5 % to 4. 0 % and that on the deposit facility from 1. 5 % to 2. 0 %, both with effect from 5 november 1999. overall, on the basis of prospective developments, the governing council considers that today ’ s decision will counter the upward trend of the balance of risks to price stability. this decision will therefore contribute to sustaining non - inflationary economic growth in the euro area over the medium term. the main argument for raising the interest rates was the fact that since around the beginning of the summer the balance of risks to future price stability has gradually been moving towards the upside. in fact, the economic situation in spring 1999 had given rise to concern about downward risks and had led to a precautionary interest rate reduction by 50 basis points on 8 april 1999. however, the current economic environment is far more favourable. moreover, several indicators, including monetary growth, suggest that there is ample liquidity in the euro area. inflation rates are expected to increase gradually in the months ahead, mainly as a result of the increase in energy prices earlier this year working its way through to consumer prices. the latest data on industrial producer prices confirm this pattern. over the medium term, however, it is important to prevent the availability of ample liquidity from translating into upward pressure on prices. in particular, an increase in interest rates now should help to counteract further liquidity growth over the medium term and contribute to maintaining inflation expectations safely below 2 %. with regard to the perception that an increase in interest rates now would endanger the resumption of