, april. see bis ( 2015 ). “ 85th annual report, 1 april 2014 – 31 march 2015, ” june, p. 92. increasing levels of corporate debt in emerging economies are presented in imf ( 2015 ). global financial stability report, chapter 3, p. 84. bis central bankers ’ speeches furthermore, balance sheets will not diminish in the near term and may even expand in some places. also, negative policy rates could become more prevalent, and rates could even fall further. tools such as long - term interest rate targeting and fiscal deficit monetary financing may gain traction. all these measures will make eventual unwinding of lax polices more complex and riskier in terms of price and financial stability. 9 low effectiveness of monetary policy could lead to disillusionment and loss of credibility. the latter effect is natural, given the overburdening of monetary policy with several goals. after all, monetary policy can only do so much. some things it can do, and others it cannot. in this context, emerging economies must prepare for possibly less benign times. any imbalances built up from monetary accommodation in advanced countries, or from domestic policies, will have to be managed carefully. economic fundamentals should be strengthened, including appropriate monetary policy, sound fiscal stances, and well - implemented structural reforms. finally, reserve and fund managers will continue to face a difficult environment. while risks and uncertainty are greater, very low returns on assets can be expected, even at longer maturities. less market liquidity and more volatile environments are also part of the outlook. the duty of optimizing safety, liquidity, and returns, obviously, will be ever harder. final remarks in conclusion, central banks in advanced economies are navigating unchartered waters, and thus, the overall results of their stances and their eventual unwinding are difficult to assess. potential unseen costs from extraordinary accommodation include financial imbalances from excessive risk - taking and high debt. market disruptions fueled by these imbalances could be hard to manage. emerging markets must be prepared to face greater risks and volatility due to potential spillover effects from this scenario. reserve and fund managers, for their part, will have to use all their knowledge and talent to achieve the best risk and reward relationship possible in such a constantly evolving context. see bernanke, b. s. ( 2016 ). “ what tools does the fed have left? ” the brookings institution

lucas papademos : the euro and economic growth speech by mr lucas papademos, vice president of the european central bank, at the forum des idees economiques, sciences po, paris, 15 april 2005. * * * the euro and the single european monetary policy are now more than six years old. there are many issues that can be addressed concerning the consequences of the euro. in line with the focus of our session, i will concentrate on some key questions concerning the performance of the euro and its role in promoting growth. • has the euro performed well and met the expectations of the european public? • has the european central bank conducted the single monetary policy effectively and fulfilled its mandate? • has the overall performance of the euro area economy and of its individual member states been satisfactory over the past six years? and, if not, what can be done about it? the performance and value of a currency must fundamentally be judged in terms of its purchasing power. consequently, it is the primary objective of the european central bank to safeguard the purchasing power of the euro by maintaining price stability in the euro area – which we have defined as maintaining inflation at close to but below 2 % over the medium term. the statistics speak for themselves. in the first six years ( 1999 - 2004 ) following the introduction of the euro, average annual inflation in the euro area was 2. 0 %. this is a remarkable accomplishment, particularly if we take into account that during this period the euro area economy was subject to a large number of adverse shocks that caused inflation to rise temporarily above 2 % for fairly long periods of time. these inflationary disturbances included oil price shocks, increases in food prices resulting from livestock epidemics, indirect tax increases and the undesirable effects on prices from the cash changeover to the euro. in spite of these sizeable adverse shocks, today we live in an environment of low inflation. the benefits of price stability are fully appreciated by the european public. for the citizens of a number of eu countries, the environment of low inflation should represent a marked change : after all, in the ten years preceding the introduction of the euro ( 1989 - 1999 ), average annual inflation in the 12 countries today forming the euro area was 8 %. what is more significant for the value of the euro and the credibility of the ecb ’ s single monetary policy is that long - term inflation expectations clearly suggest that financial markets are confident that price stability will be maintained in the euro area over the