Eddie George: Sterling strength, the euro and UK monetary policy  Speech by the Rt Hon Eddie George, Governor of the Bank of England, to the Leeds and Bradford Chartered Institute of Bankers and Bradford Chamber of Commerce, Bradford, on 11 April 2000. *  *  *  It’s a real pleasure to be here in Yorkshire and I am greatly honoured to have this opportunity to speak to such a large and distinguished audience. I am honoured - but also, I must confess, somewhat daunted. I am acutely aware of the fact that, while there are some parts of the region that are economically - doing extremely well, other parts, particularly those most exposed to international competition, are under the hammer. That’s true of course of the UK economy as a whole. I’m equally aware that the suffering sectors ascribe their pain to the strength of sterling, particularly against the euro, which is certainly a contributory factor; and that they ascribe the strength of the exchange rate to our domestic monetary policy and to the Monetary Policy Committee. I should like to address some of these concerns this evening and then go on to say a few words about the great euro debate. Let me begin with some comments on the very profound changes that have occurred, gradually over a long period, in the approach to economic management in the UK and in our more recent economic performance.
Birgir Ísleifur Gunnarsson: Iceland in a global setting Keynote speech by Mr Birgir Ísleifur Gunnarsson, Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Central Bank of Iceland, at the Euromoney conference on the Nordic Financial Markets and Investment Opportunities, Stockholm, 13 September 2002. *  *  *  Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen. It is a pleasure to participate in this ambitious conference on the Nordic Financial Markets and Investment Opportunities. I will in my remarks today mainly focus on aspects relating to Iceland. Size separates Iceland from the other Nordic Countries, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. Other factors separate the Nordic Countries as well. Finland is a member of the European Union and the Economic and Monetary Union, EMU, as well. Denmark and Sweden are members of the European Union but are outside the EMU. Norway and Iceland are outside the European Union but maintain very close ties to it, particularly through the European Economic Area Agreement. That agreement makes Norway and Iceland a part of the single market of the European Union, which entails among other things that they are obliged to maintain financial market legislation, which fully conforms to that of the European Union. The Nordic Countries have different monetary regimes. Finland is a member of the EMU, Denmark is linked to the EMU through an ERM II agreement entailing that the Danish krona is very closely tied to the euro. Sweden, Norway and Iceland have chosen an inflation-targeting regime as their monetary framework (Iceland in March 2001).