Bowman: Opening Remarks

ECB's Pres Lagarde: Labour Demand Has Cooled - Household Savings Unusually Large - Govt Expenditure Should Underpin Investment - Global Environment To Remain A Drag <EUR=>:*LAGARDE: MANUFACTURING HELD BACK BY HIGHER TARIFFS, STRONG EURO *LAGARDE: ECONOMY SHOULD BENEFIT FROM CONSUMER SPENDING *LAGARDE: GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT IS LIKELY TO REMAIN A DRAG *LAGARDE: MUST RAPIDLY ADOPT DIGITAL EURO REGULATION ECB's Pres Lagarde: Trade Environment Volatile - Some Growth Downside Risks Have Been Mitigated - Forward Looking Wage Indicators Point To Slower Wage Growth This Year And H1 - Measures Of Longer Term Inflation Expectations Around 2% - Labour Costs To Moderate Further ECB's Pres Lagarde: We Are In A Good Place - Good Place Not Fixed - Will Do Whatever Is Needed To Stay In A Good Place - Would Not Complain About Growth; Could Do Better ECB's President Lagarde: Some of the downside risks to growth have abated, but not the same conclusion for inflation.

The Governing Council today decided to keep the three key ECB interest rates unchanged. Inflation remains close to the 2% medium-term target and the Governing Council’s assessment of the inflation outlook is broadly unchanged. The economy has continued to grow despite the challenging global environment. The robust labour market, solid private sector balance sheets and the Governing Council’s past interest rate cuts remain important sources of resilience. However, the outlook is still uncertain, owing particularly to ongoing global trade disputes and geopolitical tensions. The Governing Council is determined to ensure that inflation stabilises at its 2% target in the medium term. It will follow a data-dependent and meeting-by-meeting approach to determining the appropriate monetary policy stance. In particular, the Governing Council’s interest rate decisions will be based on its assessment of the inflation outlook and the risks surrounding it, in light of the incoming economic and financial data, as well as the dynamics of underlying inflation and the strength of monetary policy transmission. The Governing Council is not pre-committing to a particular rate path. *ECB LEAVES DEPOSIT FACILITY RATE AT 2.00%; EST. 2.00% *ECB NOT PRE-COMMITTING TO PARTICULAR RATE PATH *ECB: GOVERNING COUNCIL STANDS READY TO ADJUST ALL INSTRUMENTS ECB SAYS APP AND PANDEMIC EMERGENCY PURCHASE PROGRAMME (PEPP) APP AND PEPP PORTFOLIOS ARE DECLINING AT A MEASURED AND PREDICTABLE PACE, AS EUROSYSTEM NO LONGER REINVESTS PRINCIPAL PAYMENTS FROM MATURING SECURITIES