There is a saying: “The face you have at age 20 is the face Nature gives you; but the face you have after 50 is the face you earned” MAS’ face today, on our 50th anniversary, is perhaps marked with the scars of crises fought and overcome and hopefully also a few lines of wisdom gathered over the years. It is also – we like to think – a radiant face, as we look ahead with hope and confidence, to push the boundaries of innovation, to make finance more inclusive, more sustainable, and more purposeful, while ensuring it remains safe. Thank you and have a good evening. 3/3  BIS central bankers' speeches
The fact of the matter is that the contraction in 2009 proved to be significantly smaller than originally predicted, with the fall in GDP turning out to have been 7½%, as opposed to the 10% forecasted earlier in the year. There are probably several explanations for this. Automatic fiscal stabilisers were allowed to work more or less freely in 2009, with fiscal consolidation taking hold this year. Icelanders were allowed early withdrawal from their third-pillar pension funds, which last year and this year is equivalent to 2½% of annual GDP, as I mentioned earlier. The financial restructuring of corporations and households has been delayed and, although this is detrimental for medium-term recovery, it has postponed some of the pain. The depreciated exchange rate has stimulated the traded goods sector. Finally, although the destruction of wealth that Iceland has experienced as a result of the collapse of the Icelandic banks is enormous, it is not proportionate to the size of the banks, as foreign creditors will lose much more. But we will continue to pay the price this year, as GDP will contract further between 2009 and 2010, but unfortunately I cannot give you much new detail on the prospects for 2010, nor can I discuss monetary policy, as I have entered the seven-day silent period before the announcement of the interest rate decision and the issuance of a new forecast next Wednesday.