*  *  *  Ladies and Gentlemen, It is a great pleasure to be here in Budapest and to participate in the annual Anchor conference. I understand that this will be the last Anchor conference for András Simor in his position as Governor of the Magyar Nemzeti Bank.
So this is an excellent opportunity for me to pay him a sincere tribute for his work here and as a valued member of the General Council of the European Central Bank (ECB). In my remarks today, I would like to focus on the process of economic convergence in Europe.