We would like to think that our policy efforts this year have been successful, in the sense that foreign reserves and banking system liquidity have improved to comfortable levels and interest rates have started to drop, thus assisting in economic recovery. I am glad to state that our financial institutions remain stable and resilient despite the massive problems globally.
Let me now turn to the policy challenges facing the Central Bank of Ireland in maintaining domestic financial stability and protecting consumers in a financially-globalised world. In relation to the banking system, the European system builds resilience by requiring banks to maintain sufficiently-high capital and liquidity ratios.