HIGHLIGHTS-Lagarde comments at ECB press conference

The European Central Bank left policy unchanged on Thursday, as expected, scrutinising instead the effectiveness and any unwanted side-effects of its crisis-fighting measures. Following are highlights of ECB President Christine Lagarde's comments at a post-policy meeting press conference. ACTIVITY RESUMES Incoming information ...

The European Central Bank left policy unchanged on Thursday, as expected, scrutinising instead the effectiveness and any unwanted side-effects of its crisis-fighting measures. The following are highlights of ECB President Christine Lagarde's comments at a post-policy meeting press conference.

ACTIVITY RESUMES Incoming information ... signals a resumption of euro area economic activity, although the level of activity remains well below the levels prevailing before the coronavirus pandemic, and the outlook remains highly uncertain.

UNEVEN, PARTIAL RECOVERY Both high-frequency and survey indicators bottomed out in April and showed a significant, though uneven and partial, recovery in May and June alongside the ongoing containment of the virus and the associated easing of the lockdown measures.

JOB LOSSES WEIGH Actual and expected job and income losses and the exceptionally elevated uncertainty about the evolution of the pandemic and the economic outlook continue to weigh on consumer spending and on business investment.

PRICE PRESSURE VERY SUBDUED Headline inflation is being dampened by lower energy prices and price pressures are expected to remain very subdued on account of the sharp decline in real GDP growth and the associated significant increase in economic slack.

AMPLE STIMULUS NECESSARY Ample monetary stimulus remains necessary to support the economic recovery and to safeguard medium-term price stability.

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