act as a cushion against that risk. to sum up, the situation today calls for a very careful assessment of the balance of risks. precisely because deflation is hard to reverse, even small probabilities cannot be neglected and must be fully factored into policy - making. i think the ecb governing council has made this point very clear over its last meetings. we currently anticipate a progressive return of inflation to our objective of below but close to 2 %. our monetary policy remains very accommodative and we continue to expect the key ecb interest rates to remain at present or lower levels for an extended period of time. should we note a deviation from this path, we will use every instrument within our mandate, including unconventional ones, in order to cope effectively with risks of a too prolonged period of low inflation. 3. outlook for the french economy i would like to end my speech by taking a closer look at the situation in france. our growth is expected to be close to the euro area average in 2014, at around 1 %. france has some major strengths for competing in a global economy : dynamic demographics, a well - trained labour force, expertise in strategic or high - tech sectors such as mathematics, aeronautics and nuclear engineering, and excellent infrastructure. we also have the advantage of an efficient financial system which has always managed to play its role in financing the economy. french banks have made the necessary efforts to meet the basel 3 solvency requirements, and are also improving their liquidity levels in a highly favourable monetary policy environment. but our economy has two main handicaps : first, taxes and social security contributions are too much of a burden, particularly for companies, because of our excessively high level of public spending ; and second, our labour market and goods and services markets are overregulated and excessively rigid. as far as i can see, france ’ s main priority today is to ensure that it can take full advantage of its strengths by implementing structural reforms that reduce the burden of taxation and simplify administrative formalities. the government has made it clear that it shares this view of the causes behind our current problems and of the solutions that we need to implement as soon as possible. it has indeed begun implementing major structural reforms, and is committed to going further, notably on firms ’ cost competitiveness and on the reduction of the public deficit through greater cost efficiency in public administration. thank you for your attention and i am looking forward to your questions. bis central bankers ’

bis - central bankers'speeches let me emphasise that the costs of climate change for our economies will become so great that, at some point, we will see climate policy action. it is just a matter of time. 3 concluding remarks ladies and gentlemen, i started my intervention with football and i would like to end on that note. germany is not going to be the next euros champion. but, more importantly, our team have shown they can compete at an international level. the same can be said of our economy. thank you! 1 see eurostat, euro area unemployment at 6. 4 %, july 2024. 2 see for example the " lazard levelized cost of energy + " database, levelized cost of energy +, june 2024. 3 see falck, o. and akash kaura ( 2023 ), green skills in german manufacturing, cesifo econpol policy brief 55. germany stands out within europe as the largest single contributor, accounting for nearly 37 % of europe's international patent families ( ipfs ) in cleantech, followed by france and the uk with 14. 5 % and 8. 5 %, respectively. see also european patent office and european investment bank ( 2024 ), financing and commercialisation of cleantech innovation, april 2024. 4 see eurostat, r & d expenditure - statistics explained, march 2024. 5 germany accounts for nearly half of all hydrogen - related ipfs in the eu. see also european patent office and international energy agency ( 2023 ), hydrogen patents for a clean future : a global trend analysis of innovation along hydrogen value chains, january 2023. 6 kotz et al. ( 2024 ) : global warming and heat extremes to enhance inflationary pressures, communications earth & environment, vol. 5 ( 116 ). 3 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches