Vespasianus
Princeps thermarum
Testo del discorso di Draghi al Bundestag.
As President of the ECB, I am here today to explain our policies and discuss with you how the ECB is acting to fulfil the mandate that was democratically conferred upon us by the Treaty. As members of the Bundestag, you know what the concerns of the German people are. I look forward to hearing about these concerns and addressing them today.
When I came to the Bundestag four years ago, we were at the height of the crisis. Today, the euro area is in better shape. To protect price stability, the ECB used its instruments in a manner it had not done before and developed new tools – all within our mandate. We reduced our interest rates to very low levels, provided targeted financing to support banks’ lending to firms and households, and started a large-scale asset purchase programme.
In my introductory remarks I want to make three points.
First, I want to explain why we are pursuing our policies. I want to show how our monetary policy has maintained price stability and countered the threat of a new “Great Depression”. Our measures are working: they are contributing to keeping the recovery on track, thus creating jobs and ensuring a recovery that ultimately also benefit savers and pensioners in Germany and the euro area as a whole. But I do understand that people have concerns. We take these concerns seriously.
I will therefore discuss in more detail – and this is my second point – how our measures affect people’s finances and welfare. As with any monetary policy decision, our measures have distributional effects on citizens. But, on balance, savers, employees, entrepreneurs, pensioners and taxpayers across the euro area, including in Germany, are better off because of our actions – today and tomorrow.
Finally, I will talk about what else is needed. The ECB does not operate in a vacuum: other economic policies are essential to complement our monetary policy. Without them there will be no strong and sustainable recovery. These other policies are a precondition for interest rates to rise again.
Working together for growth in Europe
As President of the ECB, I am here today to explain our policies and discuss with you how the ECB is acting to fulfil the mandate that was democratically conferred upon us by the Treaty. As members of the Bundestag, you know what the concerns of the German people are. I look forward to hearing about these concerns and addressing them today.
When I came to the Bundestag four years ago, we were at the height of the crisis. Today, the euro area is in better shape. To protect price stability, the ECB used its instruments in a manner it had not done before and developed new tools – all within our mandate. We reduced our interest rates to very low levels, provided targeted financing to support banks’ lending to firms and households, and started a large-scale asset purchase programme.
In my introductory remarks I want to make three points.
First, I want to explain why we are pursuing our policies. I want to show how our monetary policy has maintained price stability and countered the threat of a new “Great Depression”. Our measures are working: they are contributing to keeping the recovery on track, thus creating jobs and ensuring a recovery that ultimately also benefit savers and pensioners in Germany and the euro area as a whole. But I do understand that people have concerns. We take these concerns seriously.
I will therefore discuss in more detail – and this is my second point – how our measures affect people’s finances and welfare. As with any monetary policy decision, our measures have distributional effects on citizens. But, on balance, savers, employees, entrepreneurs, pensioners and taxpayers across the euro area, including in Germany, are better off because of our actions – today and tomorrow.
Finally, I will talk about what else is needed. The ECB does not operate in a vacuum: other economic policies are essential to complement our monetary policy. Without them there will be no strong and sustainable recovery. These other policies are a precondition for interest rates to rise again.
Working together for growth in Europe
