abstract concept. as a matter of fact, we clearly witnessed the close relationship between financial education and financial stability in the recent global crisis. i believe that the awareness created by this crisis can be interpreted as an opportunity, as highlighting financial education will be beneficial for policy - makers, individuals and financial markets. in turkey, many institutions carry out projects with regard to financial education as a part of their responsibilities. in order to get the expected benefit from financial education programs, individuals ’ financial education needs that arise in different phases of their lives should be well identified. it is of great importance that financial education programs are devised in a way to meet these needs ; and the effects of these education programs are assessed in order to reshape future needs accordingly. bis central bankers ’ speeches due to the relationship between financial stability and financial education i have just mentioned, the central bank of turkey attaches special importance to the issue of financial education as other central banks do. as you all know, the cbt law lays down the primary objective of the central bank of turkey as maintaining price stability ; whereas taking measures to ensure stability in the financial system are stated among the main duties. in this respect, the cbt considers financial education from the viewpoint of financial stability. with our biannual financial stability report and other studies and announcements that we share with the public, we strive to raise awareness as regards the financial risks borne by households. meanwhile, we have recently accelerated our efforts on the international platform regarding this issue. the cbt is a member of the international network on financial education ( infe ) established under the auspices of the organization for economic cooperation and development ( oecd ), one of the leading organizations for financial education. within the scope of this platform, the cbt became one of the fifteen members of the national strategy on financial education subgroup, which was established in 2009. similarly, the cbt applied to join the studies of the financial inclusion subgroup under this platform ( established in february 2011 ) and also for membership in the task force on financial consumer protection that was established at the oecd. the central bank of turkey also contributes, via data collection and surveys, to international studies on financial access. within this framework, the cbt supports studies carried out by the consultative group to assist the poor ( cgap ) conducted in collaboration with the world bank. moreover, the cbt – along with other related public institutions – contributes to the efforts of the global partnership for financial inclusion ( gpfi ) initiated

##b is transparency, already mentioned as one of the keys to greater credibility. transparency means openness about the ecb ’ s objectives, its policy implementation, its monetary policy deliberations and the forward - looking orientation of its policies. the ecb has explained, clearly and explicitly, that its main goal is maintaining price stability and described the strategies by which it is seeking to achieve it. i have already pointed out the additional issues of growth and unemployment. there is still discussion, but there is consensus concerning the primary objective. discussion of these topics will continue in publications, announcements, speeches by ecb authorities and discussions. this kind of transparency is an important characteristic of the ecb. the ecb will be accountable for its policy changes and for its announced policy intentions. this will contribute to transparency in its daily operations. in addition, for the sake of transparency the minutes of ecb executive committee meetings should be made public. on this issue, the ecb has one concern. if a member of the committee approves a decision that is not advantageous for his own country, it may cause some problems. indeed, the publication of the minutes of meetings years later could create some risks. at this stage, i find this a reasonable objection. maybe in time this problem can be solved. the fourth important characteristic of the ecb is that to reduce uncertainty, policymaking and economic indicators are treated on a forward - looking basis. the bank ’ s fundamental strategy is to calm down expectations for the future, since uncertainty is the most important ingredient of instability. the main sources of the ecb ’ s monetary policy, which is based on these principles, are thus determined. these are monetary aggregates, inflation targets and other intermediate objectives such as selected monetary indicators, and finally the conduct of monetary policy in the light of all these elements. the ecb has indicated that even if it has an inflation target, it will not announce it. these monetary policy conditions absolutely guarantee that there will be some uncertainties and questions, and the first question will be whether it will be possible to lower the inflation rate below 2 % when the intermediate targets are indicators calculated using the monetary aggregates of member countries. other questions follow. will the mechanisms of monetary policy transmission still work efficiently? can monetary policy moves made as they are in germany today, using monetary aggregates as intermediate targets, succeed in the euro area as well? which monetary aggregates will be used? what of the money demand function? will there be a