Such a monetary reaction was motivated by the need for increasing the attractiveness of the CB bills, in order to redirect the Denar liquidity from the foreign exchange market and to ease the pressures on the foreign exchange rate. Although after the increase in the core interest rate of the National Bank, from the beginning of the second quarter, moderate stabilization of the movements on the foreign exchange market was registered and the demand for foreign exchange began to decrease, however, also during April and May, the interventions of the National Bank on the foreign exchange market continue to reduce to net sale of foreign exchange. Simultaneously, the trend of currency conversion of the households' savings from national into foreign currency continued, indicating that although after the culmination in March (during the presidential and local elections) the psychological pressures began to ease, they are not completely depleted. Such accomplishments were the reason for additional intervention with new measures. In May, we increased the reserve requirement allocation rate for the banks' liabilities with currency component, as follows: for liabilities in foreign currency, from 10% to 13%, and for the liabilities in domestic currency with FX clause, from 10% to 20%. The undertaken measures should stimulate the Denar saving and we expect to cause change in the trend of accumulation of foreign assets by the banks, which would contribute to decrease in the demand for foreign exchange and to stabilization on the foreign exchange market. And definitely, part of the expectations is already happening.

The consequences, quite naturally, were first evident in the US financial market which plays an exceptionally important role in the funding of the banks and the private sector. It also became clear that the banks' off-balance sheet activities, in environment of illiquidity of entire segments in the global financial market, will cause enormous losses which will have to be funded with the banks' capital. This, understandably, further increased the mistrust with respect to banks' capital adequacy rate. In a short period, the markets went dry. The ghosts typical for the crisis of the thirtieth (1929-1933) flied over, although I agree with those asserting that any comparison between that and this crisis is virtually unsuitable. In mid-October 2008, the governments of the developed countries started taking measures to get the trust in the financial system back. On October 8, the Government of Great Britain disclosed a complex plan for recapitalization of the banking system. This measure followed the first coordinated measure for cutting the interest rates, undertaken by the six most influential central banks. Moreover, the governments of the Euro-area states adopted a joint decision to issue guarantees and inject capital for stabilization of the banking system. In mid-October, the US Treasury Department also announced that it will invest US Dollar 250 billion to recapitalize the major banks. The undertaken measures for stabilization of the banking system helped curbing the global trust crisis in the international financial system, but gaining it back goes slowly.