Against this background, the achievements of the central banks in transition economies have been most remarkable. Assessing current economic developments in accession countries, and putting them into perspective as regards their respective starting-points, I am pleased to note the considerable progress that has been made over the past decade.
Undeniably, this progress, in particular structural adjustments, has also lowered vulnerability to external financial crises, as shown by the limited contagion effects during the Russian and - more recently - the Turkish crisis.