Lorenzo Bini Smaghi: Eurozone, European crisis and policy responses Speech by Mr Lorenzo Bini Smaghi, Member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank, at the Goldman Sachs Global Macro Conference – Asia 2011, Hong Kong, 22 February 2011. *  *  *  I wish to thank Huw Pill and Isabel Vansteenkiste for their contributions to this speech. I remain solely responsible for the opinions contained herein. 1. Introduction  Ladies and Gentlemen, It is a pleasure to have the opportunity to speak at this distinguished gathering here today. We are certainly living in “interesting times”, as the Chinese say. Slightly “too interesting, for too long” I would add. Over the past few years, we have all witnessed a global financial crisis, which has caused profound changes in the outlook for the global financial system and global economy. This morning, I will focus on one manifestation of the broader financial turmoil: the sovereign debt crisis experienced by some euro area countries. In my remarks, I will first discuss the origins of this crisis, and then draw some comparisons with the emerging market experience – particularly in Asia. After reviewing how the European authorities have responded to the crisis, I will conclude with some remarks on the outlook for the euro area. While we certainly face considerable challenges at present, I am confident that Europe will emerge stronger from the current episode, not least because some of the existing gaps in the institutional framework for Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) will be filled.

Mr Chairman, it is pleasing to note that the SADC Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Forum will this year be hosting its 13th Annual conference in Livingstone, Zambia. Bank of Zambia, is therefore pleased to join other sister Central Banks who have previously hosted this Annual Conference. Distinguished Delegates, as you are all aware, Information and Communications Technology (ICT) plays a strategic role in the day to day operations in all our Central Banks. The rapid evolution of ICT, which is generally called the “ICT revolution”, has been exerting a profound impact on the world’s economies. As we all can acknowledge, technological innovation has brought about the speedy processing and transmission of information, resulting in substantial reduction in costs, wider networking, and globalization on an unprecedented scale and scope. Distinguished Delegates, the central banks within the SADC region have registered significant developments and advances in the areas of Payment Systems, Website development, and Banking Supervision Application, just to mention a few projects emanating from the SADC ICT Forum initiatives. These projects have been possible and successfully implemented largely due to the co-operation and collaboration that exists between the Central Banks in the region. The issues that will be discussed at this Conference are very important in the context of the realization of some of the key objectives of our central banks that can only be achieved through sound implementation of the ICT solutions. This Conference, therefore, offers all of us various opportunities to effectively contribute to positive developments of our central banks.