“We decided to keep the key ECB interest rates unchanged”. Mario Draghi made this announcement as he opened the press conference that followed the last meeting of the ECB’s Governing Council that he chairs, before passing on the baton to Christine Lagarde. As from 1 November, “net purchases will be restarted under the Governing Council’s asset purchase programme (APP) at a monthly pace of €20 billion” for as long as “necessary to reinforce the accommodative impact of its policy rates”. The purchases will “end shortly before” the Governing Council “starts raising the key ECB interest rates”. A “highly accommodative stance of monetary policy” is chosen “for a prolonged period of time to support underlying inflation pressures and headline inflation developments”. Indeed, the data show “a protracted weakness in euro area growth dynamics, the persistence of prominent downside risks and muted inflation pressures”. The economic resilience, however, is supported by positive signals: “ongoing employment growth and increasing wages” in the euro area. The package of policy measures adopted by the ECB led by Mario Draghi today, and left as a legacy, provide “substantial monetary stimulus, which will contribute to a further easing in borrowing conditions for firms and households”. Mr Draghi, however, warned that in order for the ECB’s decisions to be effective, “other policy areas must contribute more decisively to raising the longer-term growth potential”.