The Federal Reserve is committed to using its full range of tools to support the U.S. economy in this challenging time, thereby promoting its maximum employment and price stability goals. The COVID-19 pandemic is causing tremendous human and economic hardship across the United States and around the world. Amid progress on vaccinations and strong policy support, indicators of economic activity and employment have strengthened. The sectors most adversely affected by the pandemic remain weak but have shown improvement. Inflation has...

Today, the Commission is adopting the first EU Strategy on voluntary return and reintegration. The Strategy promotes voluntary return and reintegration as an integral part of a common EU system for returns, a key objective under the New Pact on Migration and Asylum. It sets out practical measures to strengthen the legal and operational framework for voluntary returns from Europe and from transit countries, improve the quality of return and reintegration programmes, establish better links with development initiatives and strengthen cooperation...

In his speech at the Leaders' Summit on Climate hosted by US President Joe Biden on 22 April, European Council President Charles Michel highlighted the EU's leadership in fighting climate change and its binding target of 55% emissions reduction by 2030. He also stressed the need for a global approach to carbon pricing and urged all developed countries to scale up their contributions to climate finance. A global approach to carbon pricing is paramount to promoting green investment. If we...

EACC New York is inviting European countries, member states and non-member states, to share some fun facts about their country with the EACC network to showcase their home country’s cultural beauty, economic strengths, and their role in transatlantic trade & investment. In conjunction with Portugal's Presidency of the Council of the European Union, we present a profile of the country of PORTUGAL. A quick fun fact about your country: According to The Global Peace Index, Portugal is the 3rd safest country in...

Speech by Philip R. Lane, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, at the European Statistical Forum (virtual) | Economic and financial statistics play a central role in guiding monetary policy decisions: central banks constitute an important user group for the output of statistical agencies, while also helping to collect the data underpinning many macro-financial statistical series. Events such as the European Statistical Forum provide a welcome opportunity to bring together the producers and users of statistics. In my remarks...

Welcome address by Fabio Panetta, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, at the joint BIS, BoE, ECB and IMF conference on “Spillovers in a “post-pandemic, low-for-long” world” | Thank you very much for the opportunity to speak at this conference on spillovers in a “post-pandemic, low-for-long” world. Over the last decade, globalisation has called into question central banks’ ability to achieve domestic objectives. According to some, close economic and financial ties across borders make inflation more of a global...

Speech on 20 April 2021 in Brussels by President von der Leyen | "Check against delivery" Prime Minister Draghi, dear Mario, Ladies and Gentlemen, Thank you very much for joining us from all the different places! We are in this together! And we have to work together – because, as we all know, no one is safe until everyone is safe. We have to join forces to fight this pandemic from every angle and to recover sustainably. This is true for health authorities and all levels...

As Prepared for Delivery on April 22, 2021 by Kristalina Georgieva | Mr. President, Special Envoy Kerry, Secretary Yellen, At the IMF we look at climate change as central in our work on macroeconomic and financial stability, growth and employment.  It presents huge risks to the functioning of our economies and offers incredible opportunities for transformative investments and green jobs. Let me focus on three areas where the right policies can make a significant difference in accelerating the transition to the new climate economy. First, a robust price...