into question our mandate, but they change the way in which we fulfil it. some argue that the eurosystem should rather change its objective. i don ’ t think so either. for the credibility of monetary policy, this objective must be maintained : this 2 % target is a medium - term “ anchor ”, at a time when there is so much volatility and short - termism affecting the economy. most central banks in advanced economies share this medium - term 2 % objective, including the united states and japan. this has been the ecb ’ s objective since 2003, when it was proposed by the german former chief economist, otmar issing. ii. this brings me to my second point : how effective is our monetary policy? a ) since the summer of 2014, we have implemented a series of non - standard monetary policy measures to complement cuts to key interest rates. these non - standard measures have produced tangible results. they have translated into a substantial easing in borrowing conditions for euro area companies. since june 2014, the cost of borrowing for businesses has fallen by 80 basis points. without non - standard measures, we estimate that we would have had to lower key rates by around 100 basis points in june 2014 to achieve a similar effect on bank interest rates. this has also helped to stimulate lending to the real economy : in the euro area, outstanding loans to businesses have gone from a contraction of – 2. 5 % in june 2014 to growth of 0. 6 % in january 2016. the impact is even more marked in france, where outstanding business lending grew by 4. 8 % year - on - year in the first month of 2016 – the highest pace of growth in the euro area and, what ’ s more, with the lowest rates of interest. convergent estimates from the ecb and the eurosystem indicate that, all other things being equal, the measures introduced since june 2014 should add 1 percentage point to inflation over the period 2015 – 2017, with a similar impact on growth. in france, they helped to boost 2015 growth by 0. 3 percentage point, and estimates from insee even put the impact slightly higher at + 0. 4 pp. that represents about 80, 000 additional jobs for the economy – although only structural reforms can generate lasting gains for a country ’ s growth and employment. to conclude on this estimate of effectiveness, the imf – regarded as an objective judge of the relevance of economic policies – was unequivocal in its assessment

at the last g20 meeting in shanghai at the end of february, saying, “ the ecb ’ s asset purchase programme has supported the recovery by improving confidence and financial conditions [ and ] monetary policy should remain accommodative ”. b ) why have we decided to do more on 10 march? the comprehensive package that has been introduced by the ecb sends out two clear messages : first, our decisions are guided by our mandate which is to bring inflation back towards our target of 2 % over the medium term. we are firmly set on this objective, and we have a broad range of instruments with which to achieve it. in addition to interest rates, we are also acting both on : bank credit easing with the new series of targeted longer - term refinancing operations ( tltro 2 ) ; and on market financing via the extended qe asset purchase programme, to 80 billion eur per month including corporate bonds. on top of that, we are guaranteeing that we shall continue to do so for as long as necessary – via forward guidance. so, negative interest rates are only part of a much more comprehensive package. we think that they have been effective, but they naturally have their limits. furthermore, the governing council gave a strong signal of its will towards an internationally cooperative attitude, as it decided not to opt for a tiering system exempting banks from negative rates. bis central bankers ’ speeches second message : our priority is to promote the financing of the real economy. the goal of tltro 2 is not, as some have claimed, to offset the impact of negative rates on banks. it is to encourage banks to lend to corporations, smes and households alike ; similarly, extending the asset purchase programme to corporate bonds will be of particular benefit to large french corporations. in other words, we are securing the provision of credit to businesses and households, and protecting it from tensions linked to market volatility. c ) now, what about the risks? i talked earlier about the risks of doing nothing : we need to take action in order to bring inflation back up towards 2 %. that said, we also need to keep a close eye out for any possible negative side - effects of our monetary policy, notably for financial stability. we are actively monitoring the financial cycle, including in france where the task falls to the high council for financial stability set up in 2013. i took part in its 8th meeting at the finance ministry last week. for the time being, there