few words on a completely different topic : the swiss national bank will celebrate it's 100 - year anniversary in 2007. we are happy that we can celebrate this anniversary at a time when switzerland ’ s economy is in good shape. and it is also with a certain sense of pride that we can look back upon a long phase of price stability. we will celebrate our anniversary in a festive, yet modest way. the 100th anniversary general meeting of shareholders on 27 april will, of course, be turned into a special event. on 13 june, at our traditional joint dinner before the news conference in berne, we will take the opportunity to toast our centenary together with you. the highlight of the celebrations will be the launch of our commemorative publication on 21 june followed by the official ceremony in zurich on 22 june. i look forward to welcoming many of you to these festivities. we will conclude our anniversary year with a two - day event for our staff in berne on 25 / 26 august. apart from these anniversary events, we will realise two special projects in 2007 : the publication of historical time series and the launch of an internet platform on macroeconomic issues. the new statistical publication series comprises several booklets which will be published on a quarterly basis in the first year and then at irregular intervals. the topics presented cover the fields that were, or still are, significant for the formulation and implementation of monetary policy. the data series go back 100 years, where possible. the printed publications will contain annual figures, while additional data series and series with shorter intervals ( quarterly, monthly, etc. ) will be available on the internet. the publications also include commentaries on the data series, describing the calculation method and, for some topics, the historical and regulatory background. the first issue – dedicated to the monetary base and monetary aggregates – will be published in the first quarter of 2007. in autumn 2007, the snb will launch iconomix, an internet platform intended for public use. it will take visitors on a journey of discovery into the world of economics. the site " iconomix. ch " will contain teaching modules, highlighting various aspects of our daily life from an economic point of view. the modules are mainly designed to be used by senior secondary school students. in principle, however, the contents can be freely accessed by the public at large. by setting up this platform, the national bank wishes to contribute to a better understanding of economic issues by a wider public.

explain developments in the financial markets and the monetary aggregates. two topics merit particular attention : the development of credit and money supply and the exchange rate. in addition to long - term interest rates and exchange rates, loans – among other things – play an important role when changes in key interest rates are transmitted to the economy. what information can we derive from the development of lending activity? loans are registering constant growth. mortgage loans, which account for the great majority of all bank loans, have grown at a rate of more than 5 % since 2003. this is a reflection of the clearly expansionary monetary policy at that time. the growth rate of mortgage loans has gradually slowed, however, and is now slightly below 5 %. this is nevertheless still a high growth rate. other loans, however, are witnessing stronger growth and are currently expanding by 6 %. unsecured loans, in particular, are rising substantially. during phases of favourable economic development, there is greater willingness to grant unsecured loans. this was the case in 1999, when the economy found itself in a similarly robust state. there is a long - term correlation between loan volume and the m3 aggregate. loan development typically lags behind the development of money supply. monetary aggregates have grown only moderately for the past three years. the m3 monetary aggregate is currently growing at a modest 2 %, while m1 and m2 are even registering a decline. the measured development of the monetary aggregates suggests a slowdown in lending. the development of the swiss franc attracted considerable attention as it has weakened vis - a - vis the euro since the beginning of the year, although it has firmed against the us dollar. to gauge the effects of exchange rates on the economy, we need to make use of the inflation - adjusted exchange rate that is also weighted to take account of the importance of individual trading partners. measured by this real, effective exchange rate, the swiss franc today is at the same level as it was in 2000. in what way do exchange rate developments enter into our decision - making process? the exchange rate is important to the extent that it influences inflation, either directly via the prices of imported goods or indirectly via the business cycle. volatility of the swiss franc against the euro has been negligible as of late. this relative calm should not, however, deceive us. it is not necessarily going to last. experience has shown that phases of a weaker swiss franc can be followed by periods in which the