Ladies and Gentlemen, the accounting profession has never been so challenging and important. In a changing, demanding and complex world your role is critical in maintaining the credibility of central banks. And, as you are aware, credibility is necessary in convincing market participants, governments and the society as a whole that the central bank’s operations can achieve their objectives.
The headwinds from the financial turmoil I have described may affect them as well. In addition, monetary policy in Europe has eased considerably less as inflation has continued to rise above central banks' targets, largely driven by continued sharp increases in commodity prices. One important factor behind developments in recent years has been the rapid growth in emerging market economies such as China.