the role of the ecb and the eurosystem in supporting this process. my remarks will also draw on some of the findings of this report. in order to better assess the state of european financial integration, the ecb has developed 42 quantitative indicators which are described in our report. 4 in a nutshell, the evidence confirms that the degree of integration varies according to the market segment, and that integration is generally more advanced in those market segments that are closer to the single monetary policy. with respect to the euro area money market, the unsecured money market reached a stage of “ nearperfect ” integration almost immediately after the introduction of the euro, with the cross - country standard deviation of the average overnight lending rates among euro area countries as low as one to two basis points. this success has been sustained by the high degree of integration of the large - value payment systems. the launch of the single technical platform, target2, in november this year will promote further financial integration, in particular through a harmonised service level, a single price structure, and a harmonised set of cash settlement services. it is, however, also a fact that the euro area short - term debt securities market has witnessed only a limited degree of cross - border activity. this may partly be due to the fact that short - term debt securities issued in the euro area have very similar risk characteristics and therefore offer little scope for international diversification. our indicator, which gives the share of short - term debt securities issued by euro area residents and held by other euro area residents, shows a rising trend – from 7 % in 2001 to over 12 % in 2005 – but the absolute numbers are small when compared to the corresponding indicators for the bond and equity market. in this respect, i would like to emphasise the short - term european paper ( step ) initiative. the step initiative promotes the development of a european shortterm paper market through market players ’ voluntary compliance with a set of standards encompassed in the step market convention. by the end of march this year, 35 step - compliant programmes, amounting to €201 billion, had been launched under the step label. 5 london economics ( 2002 ), “ quantification of the macroeconomic impact of integration of eu financial markets ”, report to the european commission. see the ecb ’ s website at http : / / www. ecb. int / pub / pdf / other / financialintegrationineurope200703en. pdf.

##p ’ s cornerstones in stakeholder engagement for financial inclusion. the citi microentrepreneurship awards ( cma ), as the fruit of such remarkable partnership, serves as an important platform to convey the message that collaboration with a strong shared vision, coupled with responsive policies and platforms, can bring the best out of the filipino people. it is thus with great interest that i participate in this year ’ s cma. i look forward to the opportunity to discover promising micro - entrepreneurs whose experiences, achievements, and community contributions would serve as an inspiration to everyone. to my fellow nsc members, we indeed have some exciting work ahead of us. may the cma continue to nurture and empower filipino micro - entrepreneurs in the years to come. again, good afternoon and thank you all for coming. 2 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches