I can only emphasise one of the core sentences of the speech you addressed to the NCB governors, and which is certainly true of the Board members as well: “The interests of the entire euro area must always come first.” Without any doubt, this rule is the crucial cornerstone of the ECB in achieving credibility.
In addition to the Programme here in Russia, a Eurosystem programme on Basel II is under way involving the Central Bank of Egypt. A crisis response package covering banking supervision and financial crisis management is being conducted with south-eastern European countries. And technical assistance is being given to a number of would-be EU members.