yves mersch : tenth anniversary of the euro in slovakia speech by mr yves mersch, member of the executive board of the european central bank, at the international conference to mark the tenth anniversary of the introduction of the euro in slovakia, bratislava, 11 january 2019. * * * accompany charts of the speech. i am honoured to be in bratislava today and to speak before such a distinguished audience. this conference marks the tenth anniversary of the euro in slovakia, which in fact is a double anniversary as it coincides with twenty years of the euro. what could be a better anniversary gift, or a clearer symbol of the vitality of our single currency, than slovakia ’ s success since the introduction of the euro on 1 january 2009? slovakia has achieved an impressive real convergence of living standards towards the eu average. the key ingredients of this success have been the country ’ s willingness to grasp the opportunities offered by eu membership and the adoption of the euro. indeed, on the economic side fundamental institutional reforms allowed slovakia to transition to a vibrant market economy and adopt a highly successful export - led growth model, which underpinned real convergence. reforms rather than continued devaluation or requests for financial assistance is the recipe for success. nevertheless, this should be no reason for complacency, as the next stage of convergence is bound to be harder. neither eu membership nor the single currency offer an “ autopilot ” for strong economic growth. i will therefore argue that relentless efforts in the pursuit of institutional quality and good governance are essential in order to raise the country ’ s long - term growth capacity. the drivers of slovakia ’ s success within just three decades, slovakia has made a remarkable economic transition from a centrally planned economy to a market economy that is closely integrated into the single market. the significant efforts made during the transition have clearly paid off. having all but doubled since the early 1990s, slovakia ’ s real gdp per capita stands at just over 80 % of the eu average. 1 equally impressive has been the pace of economic convergence, which exceeded expectations based on the initial level of slovak national income. 2 slovakia has managed to achieve a per capita gdp level above that of most other countries in central and eastern europe ( cee ), and close to catching up with that of slovenia and the czech republic ( chart 1 ). much of this success is rooted in the country ’ s remarkable institutional transformation in the context of joining the eu. slovakia ’ s accession to the eu gave momentum to its convergence efforts and

on our targeted longer - term refinancing operations ( tltro iii ). specifically, we decided to reduce the interest rate on tltro iii operations during the period from june 2020 to june 2021 to 50 basis points below the average interest rate on the eurosystem ’ s main refinancing operations prevailing over the same period. moreover, for counterparties whose eligible net lending reaches the lending performance threshold, the interest rate over the period from june 2020 to june 2021 will now be 50 basis points below the average deposit facility rate prevailing over the same period. we also decided on a new series of non - targeted pandemic emergency longer - term refinancing operations ( peltros ) to support liquidity conditions in the euro area financial system and contribute to preserving the smooth functioning of money markets by providing an effective liquidity backstop. the peltros consist of seven additional refinancing operations commencing in may 2020 and maturing in a staggered sequence between july and september 2021 in line with the duration of our collateral easing measures. they will be carried out as fixed rate tender procedures with full allotment, with an interest rate that is 25 basis points below the average rate on the main refinancing operations prevailing over the life of each peltro. 1 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches further details on the amendments made to the terms of tltro iii and on our new peltros will be published in dedicated press releases this afternoon at 15 : 30 cet. since the end of march we have been conducting purchases under our new pandemic emergency purchase programme ( pepp ), which has an overall envelope of €750 billion, to ease the overall monetary policy stance and to counter the severe risks to the monetary policy transmission mechanism and the outlook for the euro area posed by the coronavirus pandemic. these purchases will continue to be conducted in a flexible manner over time, across asset classes and among jurisdictions. we will conduct net asset purchases under the pepp until the governing council judges that the coronavirus crisis phase is over, but in any case until the end of this year. moreover, net purchases under our asset purchase programme ( app ) will continue at a monthly pace of €20 billion, together with the purchases under the additional €120 billion temporary envelope until the end of the year. we continue to expect monthly net asset purchases under the app to run for as long as necessary to reinforce the accommodative