When economic crises hit, such as the one caused by the pandemic, countries have a number of financial resources—both internal and external—to draw on. The global financial safety net is a set of institutions and mechanisms that provide insurance against crises and financing to mitigate their impact. This safety net has four main layers: countries’ own international reserves; bilateral swap arrangements whereby central banks exchange currencies to provide liquidity to financial markets; regional financial arrangements by which countries pool resources...

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Chair Jerome H. Powell before the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C. | Chairman Brown, Ranking Member Toomey, and other members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today. The economy has continued to strengthen. The rise in Delta variant cases temporarily slowed progress this past summer, restraining previously rapid growth in household and business spending, intensifying supply chain disruptions, and, in some cases, keeping people from returning to work or looking for...

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The European Commission has today adopted a package of measures to improve the ability of companies to raise capital across the EU and ensure that Europeans get the best deals for their savings and investments. One year on from the 2020 Capital Markets Union Action Plan, the Commission is delivering on its commitments, proposing measures to boost European capital markets. This will help Europe's economic recovery from the COVID-19 crisis, as well as the digital and green transitions. In addition,...

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Keynote speech by Christine Lagarde, President of the ECB, at the ECB Legal Conference 2021 | Frankfurt am Main, 26 November 2021 | Introduction Ladies and gentlemen, The first President of the European Commission, Walter Hallstein, famously said that the European Union is a “community of law” – an expression which was then picked up by the European Court of Justice in its judgments. The rule of law is one of the basic principles of our Union, and one we have to defend...

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Interview with Christine Lagarde, President of the ECB, conducted by Gerald Braunberger, Dennis Kremer and Christian Siedenbiedel on 23 November and published on 26 November 2021 | Madame Lagarde, inflation rates are increasing around the world. Inflation in the United States is 6.2%, while in Germany a rate of close to 6% is expected for November. Is inflation spiralling out of control? At the European Central Bank we are of course monitoring that very closely. And not only because our primary...

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Today, the European Commission has proposed to update the rules on coordination of safe and free movement in the EU, which were put in place in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the summer, vaccine uptake has increased significantly and the EU Digital COVID Certificate has been rolled out successfully, with more than 650 million certificates issued to date. At the same time, the epidemiological situation in the EU continues to develop with some Member States taking additional public health...

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