FACTBOX-Key takeaways from first ECB news conference of Christine Lagarde

Christine Lagarde gave her first news conference after chairing a meeting of European Central Bank policymakers on Thursday. Here are the main takeaways from the event:

- As widely expected, the bank maintained the ultra-easy monetary policy stance of Lagarde's predecessor Mario Draghi, holding its deposit rate at a record low minus 0.5% and keeping the option of another rate cut firmly on the table. - It also kept the pace of bond purchases steady at 20 billion euros a month, a level of additional stimulus that is controversial with some of the central banks in the euro zone, notably those in Germany and the Netherlands.

- In an unprecedented brief statement before opening the regular question-and-answer session, Lagarde affirmed that she would bring her own communication style to the job, urging her listeners: "Don't over-interpret, don't second-guess, don't cross-reference." - She gave significant extra detail about the long-planned strategic review of the ECB's workings, saying it would consult broadly with civil society, academic and other voices and that there were no pre-conceptions about its conclusions.

- She confirmed the scope of the review would include the impact of technology and climate change on economic policy and address what she said were rising inequalities in developed economies. - On her approach to monetary policy, she described herself as neither a dove nor a hawk, but an "owl that is often associated with a little bit of wisdom."

- She announced that the ECB would accelerate the efforts of its task force studying the phenomenon of digital currencies. - She rejected the suggestion that the euro zone economy is heading for a period of "Japanification", the deflationary trap of collapsed demand that caused the so-called "lost decade" of economic stagnation in Japan through the 1990s. (Writing by Mark John; Editing by Toby Chopra)