. it helped to calm the financial markets and it was well understood. interest rates are falling in several countries, in particular in italy. is this something that the ecb is concerned about? we are concerned about a combination of problems : a deep recession, a huge impact on public finances and an increase in funding needs. this causes tension in the financial markets and, in particular, the government bond market. we are going to remain vigilant. as we have said on several occasions in the recent past, we are not going to allow any fragmentation of the bond market and we will act accordingly. we have a new instrument – the pepp – and we can use it flexibly in terms of timing and the assets we purchase. that ’ s why i hope we can deal with this situation. am i to conclude from your comments that the ecb is prepared to strengthen the programme or take other measures in order to respond to any tensions that may arise? we have a programme that we are implementing. the ecb ’ s governing council has not made any decisions regarding further programmes. we are keeping an open mind in terms of how to respond to further developments and tensions within the markets. because we are completely committed to maintaining stability in the financial markets and to avoiding the fragmentation that could prevent the functioning of the monetary policy transmission mechanisms. in countries such as portugal, spain and italy, people are concerned that we could see another crisis, like the sovereign debt crisis in 2010 – 11. can the ecb confirm that it will do all that is needed to avoid such a scenario? we have shown our commitment, with liquidity, by making capital requirements for banks more flexible and with the asset purchase programme. we are extremely committed. the current crisis is quite different to the one we saw in 2010 – 11. it did not originate in budgetary issues or the banking system. it was a massive exogenous shock. this is a health emergency which has become an economic problem. our current efforts are focused on preventing it becoming a debt crisis. are banks in europe better equipped to deal with this crisis than in 2008? or can we expect to see banks fail in various countries? things are very different to ten years ago. banks have more capital, they have more liquidity and are more resilient. the bigger concern is profitability, which was already low. european banks are solvent but i am aware that this crisis will have further impact on their profitability. in the medium term, banks

purchased by the ecb to €1. 1 trillion in 2020. this is a large sum in order to maintain financial stability in the debt markets, in particular in the government bond markets, and to safeguard the monetary policy transmission mechanisms. in addition, of course, we have the fiscal policies of national governments and the european commission, as well as the decision by the eurogroup last week. do you think that the measures adopted last week by the eurogroup are enough to deal with the severity of the problem, or should the finance ministers have gone further? with coronabonds, for example, or similar solutions. the agreement made was a commitment that goes in the right direction. it ’ s important to remember that. to reach a compromise, everyone has to give way a little and to believe in it. the agreement is a sign of political commitment. as for other possible measures, such as coronabonds, the ecb has always been in favour of the existence of a fiscal instrument at european level that can complement monetary policy. it is just that this is a political decision. we are in favour of it, we think it would be a good thing for the euro area, but we will see what happens. the european council meets on 23 april. we consider it to be a useful instrument, but it is not up to the ecb. it ’ s for the european governments to decide. 1 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches and what do you expect will happen? do you think that it ’ s possible to reach a political agreement to take this step towards coronabonds or is it just a dream? i couldn ’ t possibly say what will happen. all i can say is that the current situation is difficult and that the commitment made by the eurogroup was positive, but let ’ s see. the possibility of a recovery fund being set up is a good idea. the size of the fund and how it is funded is left open to discussion. that ’ s why it depends on what the european governments decide. why did the ecb decide to launch a new programme, the pepp, just a few days after announcing that it was strengthening the previous programme. was your initial assessment of the situation too optimistic? within three or four days we saw a rapid deterioration in the situation. containment measures were taken in several countries, and we realised that the impact on the economy could be enormous, with repercussions on the financial markets. it was a swift reaction on our part