Setting up a new central bank Let me now make a few remarks about the experience we have gained in the first two and a half years of setting up a new central bank, both in general terms and in particular with regard to the instruments and monetary policy strategy.
It came, I suppose, as a surprise to those who had been very sceptical about the euro that the birth of the new currency proceeded as smoothly as anyone could have hoped for. Indeed, it was a resounding success. The process of the changeover to the euro was virtually free of technical faults.