the financial and non - financial sectors and high unemployment in parts of the euro area, are expected to continue to dampen the underlying growth momentum. downside risks to the economic outlook prevail. they relate in particular to a renewed intensification of tensions in euro area debt markets and their potential spillover to the euro area real economy. downside risks also relate to further increases in commodity prices. euro area annual hicp inflation was 2. 6 % in march 2012, according to eurostat ’ s flash estimate, after 2. 7 % in the previous three months. inflation is likely to stay above 2 % in 2012, mainly owing to recent increases in energy prices, as well as recently announced rises in indirect taxes. on the basis of current futures prices for commodities, annual inflation rates should fall below 2 % again in early 2013. in this context, we will pay particular attention to any signs of pass - through from higher energy prices to wages, profits and general pricesetting. however, looking ahead, in an environment of modest growth in the euro area and well - anchored long - term inflation expectations, underlying price pressures should remain limited. bis central bankers ’ speeches risks to the outlook for hicp inflation rates in the coming years are still seen to be broadly balanced, with upside risks in the near term mainly stemming from higher than expected oil prices and indirect tax increases. downside risks continue to exist owing to weaker than expected developments in economic activity. the monetary analysis indicates that the underlying pace of monetary expansion has remained subdued. the annual growth rate of m3 was 2. 8 % in february 2012, compared with 2. 5 % in january. in both january and february we observed a strengthening in the deposit base of banks. annual loan growth to the private sector has remained subdued, with the rate ( adjusted for loan sales and securitisation ) moderating in february to 1. 1 % year on year, from 1. 5 % in january. the annual growth rates of loans to non - financial corporations and loans to households ( adjusted for loan sales and securitisation ) stood at 0. 6 % and 1. 8 % respectively in february. the volume of mfi loans to non - financial corporations and households remained practically unchanged compared with the previous month. money and credit data up to february confirm a broad stabilisation of financial conditions and thereby the avoidance of an abrupt and disorderly adjustment in the balance sheets of credit institutions, as intended by our measures. funding conditions

primary source material in our ‘ pounds, schillings and independence ’ exhibition comes from our archive collections. the wider access to the archives will also increase the volume of long - term economic and banking data available to policy makers and scholars. while our official publications have always been in the public, the reasoning in many cases behind our policy decisions will now be also available to scholarly researchers. i believe that this will make a significant contribution to economic, financial and social research. at a general level, the bank ’ s archives provide many insights into the economic development in ireland. more narrowly, there is significant material on the establishment and the design of irish currency, the services that the bank provides to both the irish public and internationally, and the day - to - day workings of the bank, with our earliest records dating back to 1786. 1 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches to give you a flavour of what our archival collections contain : 12, 000 + paper files dating from the foundation of the currency commission in 1927 ; and the bank from its inception in 1943. 4, 000 + photographic prints. principally of the social aspects of the life of the bank, our buildings along with conferences and events. 560 + architectural plans and drawings including the various premises owned or purchased by the bank, such as foster place ; fitzwilliam house, college green, and sam stephenson ’ s masterpeice of our former headquarters in dame st. 250 + bound ledgers. these include two smaller collections : namely a portion of the free state and later republic of ireland land commission bonds and the archives of the commercial building company. finally, it holds various artefacts relating to aspects of the production and design of irish national bank notes and coinage. the archives of the commercial buildings company ltd. form a stand - alone collection within our collections. its premises were situated on dame street and were built in 1799 and designed by edward parke. its most famous occupants, the ouzel galley society resided in the buildings from 1805 until they were sold to the central bank of ireland in 1963. the ouzel galley, illustrated on the seal on display in the adjacent room, was an irish merchant ship that set sail from dublin in 1695 en route to the port of smyrna in the ottoman empire. the ship did not return as scheduled within the following year. after a further two year period with no sightings, she was presumed lost. a panel of dublin merchants was set up in order to settle the question over insurance, resulting in the