The priority in structural reform must be the rapid dissemination of these technological advances throughout society. And yes, because people expect too much from the ECB, if other actors rein in their efforts whenever we take action. We are seeing less of an effort on the public finance side. The ECB made it possible to avoid an outright depression in 2012 and 2013, and even the break-up of the euro. It will pursue an accommodative monetary policy for as long as is necessary. Without giving a date, this timescale is fairly long. It’s a long lasting endeavour. Additional risks have arisen from the slowdown in the emerging countries, risks that are pretty significant for the euro area. There are also downward pressures on prices in the manufacturing sector as a result of surplus output and the very high unemployment level. But monetary policy alone will not solve all the problems. Is the situation in Greece under control now? Discussions are ongoing and are still intensive at the political and technical levels, but the will to succeed is there and the atmosphere of the discussions has improved considerably. It is distinctly more positive than it was at the beginning of the year. A great deal of progress has already been made through these negotiations. Significant reforms have been voted in. The banks will be able to be recapitalised. Nevertheless, the situation remains very fragile in this country. After the debt crisis, isn’t the migration crisis the next threat to European cohesion?
For the renminbi to be considered an option for both exporters and importers to settle their trade obligations in addition to the major currencies. There needs to be an efficient and cost-competitive source of financing in renminbi and a diversified investment avenue. In particular, it is recognised that discernible progress in three areas are needed to be put in place at an early stage to support the use of renminbi, that is, to improve access to renminbi liquidity, to have the supporting infrastructure and framework and to provide information on the use of the renminbi for trade and productive investment transactions. More than three years ago, in early 2009, the Bank entered into a Currency Swap Arrangement (CSA) Agreement with the People’s Bank of China, which was renewed early this year with an expanded amount of Renminbi 180 billion. The objective is to ensure a ready supply of renminbi in the domestic financial markets to meet the demand by businesses. An important piece of the infrastructure that was put in place in 2010 was the provision of direct quotes between renminbi and ringgit in the interbank foreign exchange market on the China Foreign Exchange Trade System (CFETS). Efforts were also made to enhance the transparency in the exchange rate between renminbi and ringgit for the trade-related settlement transactions. In March this year, the real time gross settlement system in Malaysia was expanded to include settlement services in renminbi.