Economic Forum Series,
Jean-Claude Trichet,
President, European Central Bank

The speech and Q & A will be in English.

*Please note this meeting is embargoed until the end of the Q & A session.

Come and listen to what one of the world's most powerful financial policymakers has to say about the global economic crisis. Jean-Claude Trichet, the head of the European Central Bank since 2003, will discuss how the ECB has been combating economic ills through lowering interest rates and injecting liquidity into the inter-bank lending market.

While the U.S. Federal Reserve has slashed the target for the federal funds rate to a range of 0 to 0.25% and the Bank of Japan has trimmed its own overnight rate target to 0.1%, the ECB, at its April 2 policy-setting meeting, cut its key refinancing rate by 25 basis points to 1.25%.

Many market participants had expected a 50-basis point cut to 1.0% in the key rate, and the ECB chief also stated that the cut to 1.25% was "not the limit." "I do not exclude that we could move [again] in a very measured way," he told a post-meeting briefing.

Trichet also said the ECB's Governing Council plans to decide at its next meeting on May 7 on whether to adopt new "non-standard" measures and what they should be. The Federal Reserve has decided to buy up to $300 billion of longer-term Treasuries, joining the BOJ in a similar program to help improve credit market conditions. The Fed has also raised its purchase of agency mortgage-backed securities to prop up the housing market while the BOJ has taken on credit risks from banks to encourage them to lend more to clients.

Trichet took various positions at the French Treasury Department and the Banque de France. In his capacity as Governor of Banque de France he became a member of the ECB's Governing Council in 1998. He was appointed ECB President in 2003 for an eight-year term.

Sandwich Plate: Smoked salmon, avocado, lettuce & dill cream cheese on campagne with tomato and pickles.
Hot Plate: Fricassee of chicken with tarragon noodles, snap beans and seasonal salad.

Jean-Claude Trichet