I think that I can safely say that we are now through most of the birth pains of the new currency and can now concentrate on the ‘normal’ challenges of monetary policy. My colleagues at the Bank of Japan are certainly well aware of the fact that challenges continue to develop. In that respect we have much to learn from each other.
Consistent with this observation, my comments today will not be on the immediate outlook for euro area monetary policy. Instead I will dwell on some issues that are – to a large extent – topical in discussions on central banking around the world.