EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK DISCUSSES INTEREST RATES, PRICE STABILIZATION, GDP GROWTH AT 8 JULY 2010 PRESS CONFERENCE

FRANKFURT AM MAIN, GERMANY – In a press conference convened on 8 July 2010 by JEAN-CLAUDE TRICHET, President of the European Central Bank and VITOR CONSTÂNCIO, Vice President of the European Central Bank, it was announced that the organization’s Governing Council determined that there would be no change in its interest rates. The announcement comes on the heels of economic and monetary analyses conducted by the Governing Council. During the press conference, a prediction was rendered concerning the expectation of price stability which is perceived as being supportive of euro area households’ purchasing power. Monetary policy was pointed to as the key factor in maintaining price stability in the “euro area”.  It was also noted that the possibility exists that the “global economy and foreign trade may recover more strongly than projected” which would support euro area exports. At the same time, concerns about the “renewed tensions in financial” markets and the resulting “possible further effects on financing conditions and confidence” were alluded to. MESSRS. TRICHET and CONSTÂNCIO also announced that the Governing Council of the European Central Bank foresees a growth in Gross Domestic Product (“GDP”) “at a moderate and still uneven pace over time and across economies and sectors of the euro area”.