* * * Ladies and gentlemen You were invited to this Focus Session today by the European Central Bank and the Deutsche Bundesbank. As is customary at these sessions, discussions centred around our common objective of improving the security and efficiency of payments and securities settlement operations. A joint task is most certainly what this is, in our opinion.
The MPS sets the broad parameters for monetary policy for the six months of 2006 and the medium term. The monetary policy for 2006 and the medium term were framed against a background of sound macroeconomic fundamentals, which we expect will be sustained into the medium term. Going Forward Going forward, much still needs to be done.