non - performing loans, which will inevitably increase the costs of the foreclosure process. this will also initially have negative effects on the overall level of non - performing mortgage loans. clearly, banks, like any other firm, can only survive if they are profitable. consequently institutions must be able to measure the costs and risks associated with each new transaction. i would like to stress here that, to guarantee their viability and to be able to adequately remunerate their capital, each individual institution must have an appropriate pricing policy allowing it to cover all the costs and risks associated with each loan, and must establish governance structures and management processes that ensure effective management of such risks. when assessing solvency and assigning an appropriate price to each new transaction, institutions will have to optimise the use of the information available on their customers. for this purpose they need to have technological solutions enabling such information to be appropriately collected and used efficiently subsequently. finally, we must remember that the application of strict standards, as required by the law, will, at least in the short term, limit the access to owner - occupied housing of certain low income groups. i sincerely believe that in the medium and long - term the effect will be more positive, by fostering greater price stability over the business cycle. we should remember that runaway growth of prices is the main factor that ultimately restricts access to owneroccupied housing. in any event, it is up to public authorities to shape the social measures that aim to guarantee decent homes for the less well off. it should be noted that construction of subsidised housing is currently at low levels, despite the economic recovery. certain initiatives in our neighbouring countries are of interest, such as the role played by the deposits and consignments fund in france or the state guarantee arrangements in the netherlands for housing up to a certain value. it is true that banks must not forget to apply strict economic criteria in their business, but it is just as true that a fair and responsible society should not be guided by economic criteria alone. 11 / 15 use of the new macroprudential tools. in the last part of my speech i would like to depart a little from the real estate credit law to discuss the new macroprudential tools recently introduced by royal decree - law 22 / 2018. as i have already mentioned, the crisis highlighted the insufficiency of microprudential supervision to identify, prevent and mitigate the materialisation of systemic risk. in

of supervision, the problems it faces, the procedures to which it resorts, the means it assigns and the resulting measures drawing the foregoing elements together. in order to meet this - in my view - fully legitimate demand, and to foment knowledge and discussion on these matters, a banking supervision report, which is at an advanced age of preparation, is shortly to be released. this will complement the new publication " estabilidad financiera " ( " financial stability " ) launched in september last year. in our capacity as a eurosystem central bank to which additional functions of great importance are entrusted, we continued to make progress in 2001 along the lines marked out for the future last year. major changes have been initiated in the areas of human resources management and technology, and the directorates banking supervision, internal audit, administration and works, note issuance and circulation, and control and accounting have been reorganised. in all these changes, the collaboration of the bank's staff has been excellent. i should thus first thank the deputy - governor and the directors - general for their support and co - operation and, on their behalf, express our profound gratitude to all the bank's staff for their positive attitude and hard work. particular acknowledgment is due to all those who, directly or indirectly, participated in the physical introduction of the euro. without their dedication and effort, the success of the changeover would not have been possible. finally, let me convey my gratitude to all the members of this council for their invaluable support and co - operation. their contributions have been fundamental in ensuring collegiate decision - making, adding depth and quality to the process.