price stability in the euro area. we will vehemently counter persistent upward and downward deviations from our inflation target. we will take the prices of owner - occupied housing into account in inflation measurement. and we will act carefully and cautiously in the current environment in order to finally pave the way out of the low interest rate environment after so many years. many thanks for your attention. the slides can be found on the european central bank website. 1 schnabel, i. ( 2020 ), “ narratives about the ecb ’ s monetary policy – reality or fiction? “, speech at the juristische studiengesellschaft, karlsruhe, 11 february. 2 the ecb website provides detailed information on the new monetary policy strategy. for a description of the key elements of the new strategy, see schnabel, i. ( 2021 ), “ a new strategy for a changing world “, speech at the virtual financial statements series hosted by the peterson institute for international economics, frankfurt am main, 14 july. 3 see also schnabel, i. ( 2020 ), “ covid - 19 and monetary policy : reinforcing prevailing challenges ”, speech at the bank of finland monetary policy webinar “ new challenges to monetary policy strategies ”, frankfurt am main, 24 8 / 9 bis central bankers'speeches november. 4 see also schnabel, i. ( 2021 ), “ escaping low inflation? ”, speech at petersberger sommerdialog, frankfurt am main, 3 july. 5 dihk ( 2021 ), “ engpasse treffen die deutsche wirtschaft in ganzer breite “, 19 august. 9 / 9 bis central bankers'speeches

is not the case today. as you know our definition of price stability is below 2 % but close to 2 %. and today ’ s medium term inflation expectations, at 1, 9 %, are in line with this definition. german companies are complaining of a credit crunch. are they right? everything that we have done since the beginning of the crisis has been aimed at putting banks in the position to lend money. in the euro area 70 % of all financing is via banks. we are doing everything we can so that banks can do their job. in addition, the governments have provided assistance for banks. it is the core function of banks to lend money and we are strongly encouraging them to do their job... have the banks given you any sign that they are satisfied with your liquidity provision? the banks are in different situations. some are better off, others are worse off. but they are receiving an enormous amount of support. all the risks and credit that have been taken over by the state amount to almost one - quarter of gdp in the euro area. i would not call for even more aid. the measures launched by governments now have to be implemented as professionally and expeditiously as possible. do we need a “ bad bank ” through which the state relieves banks of their risks? i am not sure about that. but all options to deal with impaired assets should be carefully examined. does the euro ensure stability in the financial crisis or are weak countries such as ireland and greece proving to be a burden? the euro ensures a very high level of stability. the years 1992 / 93 demonstrate what would happen in a crisis situation if the euro did not exist. at that time, there was dramatic turbulence in the european exchange rate system. every member of this community must of course make its own contribution, in particular by keeping government finances in order. wouldn ’ t it then be a good idea to bring the euro more quickly to the struggling countries in eastern europe? participating in the euro area means joining a community and deciding to share a common destiny. no - one can simply adopt the euro because they are having a period of major difficulties. it is an alliance forever. we are open, we started with 11 countries and are now at 16. there are rules and criteria spelled out in the treaty. our position is “ all the criteria of the treaty, nothing but the criteria of the treaty ”. these rules guarantee that the euro is good for new members and good for old members.