Any review of the first year of the Eurosystem’s operational existence would be incomplete without a reference to the international role of the euro. During this time, the euro has assumed an increasingly important role as an international currency, as evidenced by the strong issuance of euro-denominated 3  BIS Review 35/2000  debt securities by non-residents of the euro area.
The euro has, from the very outset, been the second most widely used currency at the international level, reflecting both the economic importance of the euro area and the legacy of the former national currencies which it replaced. In this context, I should like to emphasise that the development of the euro as an international currency has been entirely determined by markets.