European Monetary Union There are now 9 months until the member countries of the European Union, which meet the requirements of the Maastricht Treaty and become members of the European Monetary Union, adopt a new currency, the euro. There is now little to suggest that this will not happen on January 1, 1999 and the European Central Bank will be established this coming July 1. The Central Bank has thought it necessary to follow these developments closely, not least in order to be able to analyze the impact on Iceland and the options available to Iceland in the new environment. In June 1997, the Central Bank released a report European Monetary Union, Creation and Impact. The Bank will release interim reports on this issue as the occasion warrants. At this stage, it is premature to say what impact the Monetary Union will have on Icelandic exchange rate policy or on the options Iceland will face. I will, nevertheless, say a few words about the subject as it appears from the perspective of the Central Bank. The outlook is now that 11 countries will form the Monetary Union at the outset. These countries account for only 33 percent of Iceland’s external goods trade. The initial impact will therefore not be nearly as significant as has been suggested in the domestic debate. Only when the United Kingdom joins the Monetary Union will more than one half of Iceland’s goods trade be with countries in the union.
You must continue to organize and support the necessary training and mentoring of supervisors so that a pool of capable and technically sound personnel is always available and that greater reliability may be placed on their output. During today and tomorrow several papers will be presented on a variety of sub themes and I anticipate that at the end of this conference some critical imperatives would have been identified to steer us through the current challenges and others looming on the horizon. Our confidence in the role of the CGBS has never been misplaced. I wish you all successful deliberations and trust that your stay here will afford you the opportunity to discover for yourself the beauty of our country and the warmth of the Guyanese people. Welcome once again to all. BIS central bankers’ speeches  3