can provide the amount of liquidity deemed necessary for its monetary policy and payment systems operations. to facilitate this, the eurosystem accepts a broad range of assets as collateral, which also reflects the variety of practices that had been applied by the national central banks of the euro area. this collateral framework remained unchanged during the recent market tensions. the diversity of eligible collateral had a stabilising effect during the financial market turmoil, allowing counterparties to obtain liquidity from the eurosystem against adequate collateral. why did the ecb intervene in money markets? the objective was twofold. the interbank money market plays a crucial role in the transmission of the effects and signals of monetary policy. if money markets do not function in an orderly manner and very short - term money market rates deviate significantly from the central bank ’ s policy rate, the effectiveness of monetary policy is impaired. the ecb therefore had to act swiftly and decisively in order to steer these rates close to the official ecb interest rates and contain upward pressures on the longer - term money market, in order to avoid the money market tensions feeding into the credit market, spreading to other markets and adversely affecting the real economy. in this context, it is important to emphasise that the ecb conducted these money market operations without changing the overall monetary policy stance and, needless to say, without aiming to “ bail out ” any specific financial institution with a special liquidity need. we have clearly distinguished between two types of central banking action. on the one hand, the ecb, like other central banks, takes decisions on the monetary policy stance and the level of official interest rates. these have a clear medium - term orientation, they are geared towards preserving price stability and are based on our assessment of the risks to price stability. on the other hand, the ecb conducts money market operations that provide liquidity to ensure the orderly functioning of the interbank money market, with a view to fulfilling its task of safeguarding financial stability and to ensuring that the effects of its interest rate decisions are transmitted to the financial markets and the real economy effectively. so, did we accomplish what we wanted to achieve? very short - term money market rates have remained very close to the level of the ecb ’ s key policy interest rates, and tensions in the term money markets have eased gradually for maturities up to three months. moreover, banks now seem to be able to satisfy their us dollar liquidity needs, allowing the ecb to disconti

medium term. this commitment will guide the determination of the monetary policy stance. at the same time, the ecb stands ready to respond flexibly, effectively and in a timely manner, in order to address potential money market liquidity pressures, so as to support its monetary policy objective and mitigate the risks to the financial system and the real economy. if necessary, this will be carried out in close concertation with other major central banks, as has been done successfully in the past. the ongoing adjustment of financial markets is likely to last for some time. this could prove to be challenging and further test the shock - absorption capacity of components of the financial system. policy - makers and market participants have already taken significant measures, and several additional initiatives are under way, to address the identified weaknesses in the financial system, enhance risk management practices, restore confidence and strengthen the resilience of the financial system. v. concluding remarks the policy challenges that the ecb and other central banks are facing this year and beyond require the close monitoring of all developments, as well as comprehensive analysis and determined action to prevent certain risks from materialising and to effectively manage others. fundamentally, however, the performance of our economies and the resilience of our financial system depend on market participants ’ decisions, actions and risk management. the close cooperation of policy - makers and market participants is an essential ingredient for achieving sustainable economic growth and preserving price stability. to this end, the global association of risk professionals has an important role to play, as the expertise and experience of its members will contribute to further improvements in the field of risk management. once again, i should like to thank you, also on behalf of all my colleagues at the bank, for awarding the risk manager of the year award to the ecb. thank you very much for your attention.