Since 1999 the single currency has fully inherited the degree of credibility and confidence that was the privilege of the most credible national currencies before the euro. This has been in particular illustrated by the fact that the medium and long term euro market interest rates were at the same low level as the level observed for the most credible previous national currencies.
However, this resilience only served to increase the level of complacency about the nature of the risks involved. The central banking community had consistently expressed concern about the level of pricing observed in markets, which did not seem to adequately reflect the level of risk being taken.