Speech by Yves Mersch, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, at the Bank Negara Malaysia Monetary Policy Conference, Kuala Lumpur, 24 July 2017 There have been many significant advances in technology over the three and a half centuries that central banks have existed: railways, electrification, computerisation, and the internet to name but a few. Each of these great waves of technological revolution has transformed how economies function. While not all have had such a marked impact on central...

At today’s meeting the Governing Council of the ECB decided that the interest rate on the main refinancing operations and the interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility will remain unchanged at 0.00%, 0.25% and -0.40% respectively. The Governing Council expects the key ECB interest rates to remain at their present levels for an extended period of time, and well past the horizon of the net asset purchases. Regarding non-standard monetary policy measures, the Governing Council confirms...

New figures released by the European Commission today show that customs authorities detained more than 41 million fake and counterfeit products at the EU's external border in 2016. The goods had a total value of over €670 million. Everyday products which are potentially dangerous to health and safety – such as food and drink, medicines, toys and household electrical goods - accounted for over a third of all intercepted goods.  Pierre Moscovici, Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs,...

Increase use of recycled materials to produce fertilisers, reducing waste and energy consumption Limits for contaminants to protect health and environment Farmers and consumers to have a wider choice Innovative fertilisers produced from organic or recycled materials will have easier access to the EU single market, under draft rules put to the vote on Thursday. Existing EU rules on fertilisers cover mainly conventional fertilisers, typically extracted from mines or produced chemically, with high energy-consumption and CO2 production. Diverging national rules make...

This year's edition confirms positive labour market and social trends and continued economic growth. With over 234 million people having a job, employment has never been as high as today in the EU and unemployment is at its lowest level since December 2008. Since 2013, 10 million jobs have been created in the EU. But looking beyond the overall social and economic progress, evidence shows that there is a particularly heavy burden on younger generations: they tend to have...

Traditional finance focuses solely on financial return and risk. By contrast, sustainable finance considers financial, social and environmental returns in combination. This essay provides a new framework for sustainable finance highlighting the move from the narrow shareholder model to the broader stakeholder model, aimed at long-term value creation for the wider community. Major obstacles to sustainable finance are short-termism and insufficient private efforts. To overcome these obstacles, this essay develops guidelines for governing sustainable finance. The issue of sustainable development...