The long-term prime lending rate was lowered three times by a total of 0.8 percentage points since September 1996 in response to the developments in the long-term interest rates, and has been moving at the record low of 2.5 per cent since December.
It is against this background that I am grateful for the opportunity today to explain the role of the ECB in the troika, to discuss our assessment of the adjustment process in the programme countries and to draw with you some key lessons from the last four years.