by the tensions that emerged at the international level in connection with the crisis in east asia and the vicissitudes of some important european countries or by those attributable to domestic political developments. today the bank of italy ’ s reserves comprise more than 2, 500 tonnes of gold and foreign assets, net of repurchase agreements, worth 82 trillion lire, compared with o trillion in 1992. underlying the lira ’ s solidity is the return to balance between italy ’ s external assets and liabilities. at the end of 1992 italy had external claims of 600 trillion lire and external liabilities amounting to 770 trillion. the net debt of 170 trillion was equal to 11 per cent of gdp. thanks to the succession of surpluses recorded on the current account of the balance of payments, at the end of 1997 italy ’ s overall net external position was once more broadly in balance. last september some 470 trillion lire of government foreign debt, consisting mostly of government securities held by non - residents, were matched by net external assets of more than 350 trillion held by the non - bank private sector, about 100 trillion held by the bank of italy and smaller amounts held by banks and other financial operators. the bank of italy and the european system of central banks it has been agreed within the community that the decisions concerning the start of monetary union – in particular, those involving the countries that will adopt the single currency from the start – will be taken in the early part of the month of may. with the introduction of the single currency, the task of formulating monetary policy will be transferred to the european system of central banks, comprising the central banks of all the participating countries and the european central bank. the treaty establishing the european community, as amended at maastricht, provides a broad outline of the internal organization of the escb. the preparatory work carried out by the european monetary institute since the signing of the treaty has focused on these aspects. the national central banks will be entrusted with the task of implementing within each country the monetary policy decided at the community level. the central banks of the participating countries will continue to be responsible for all the functions they are entrusted with under national laws ; in italy these include banking supervision, the supervision of markets, the safeguarding of competition in the credit market and, jointly with the european central bank, oversight of the payments system. the systemic crises in foreign markets have strengthened the view that banking supervision complements monetary policy in determining conditions of stability in financial

reise was an essential bridge between the culture of germany and that of the land wo die zitronen bluhen. the programme for these days revisits our cultural heritage, our artistic and historical legacy, but it also reflects the culture and cultural activities of present - day italy. classical music is the centrepiece of the opening and closing concerts as well as the charity event, but there will also be presentations of contemporary italian music. the italian film days are entirely given over to contemporary directors and will offer the opportunity to reflect on the ways in which the traditional italian family model has changed. in literature, the themes range from the deeper meaning of cultural identity to the role of women in the risorgimento. this evening the orchestra mozart will perform the opening concert under the baton of claudio abbado. the maestro ’ s career, his essential embodiment of the universal language of music, certainly needs no presentation. i cannot even begin to sum up the course of his art. let me merely recall that he has conducted some of the world ’ s greatest orchestras : the berliner philarmoniker, the wiener philarmoniker, la scala. constantly engaged with social problems and active in promoting the artistic growth and careers of young musicians, claudio abbado has founded a series of orchestras for young instrumentalists of artistic excellence, including notably the chamber orchestra of europe and the orchestra mozart, which came bis central bankers ’ speeches into being in bologna. both draw their players from a vast range of different countries, talented young musicians playing alongside established soloists. the orchestra mozart owes its name to the role that the city of bologna played in mozart ’ s development. it was with the philharmonic academy of bologna – one of the centres of european cultural life – that mozart, at the age of fourteen, took his diploma as “ maestro compositore ” on the 9th of october 1770. music as solidarity, music as social life, music as at once expression of and factor in personal and cultural growth. these are the values that claudio abbado and all these young musicians have brought with them to the orchestra mozart, from the very start. now, it is my pleasure to leave you to the sublime art of gioacchino rossini. claudio abbado conducts the orchestra mozart in the overture to the barber of seville. bis central bankers ’ speeches