have the last word on the actions taken – particularly if and when tools are used that are not in the bank ’ s toolbox. honoured guests : i have spoken at some length on monetary policy and the labour market, on the one hand, and the capital controls, on the other. but i have done so with a purpose, as these are by far the greatest economic challenges facing us at the moment. yet the central bank ’ s sphere of activity includes many other functions as well, not least those centring on the structure and stability of the financial system. let us hope that, when we convene a year from now for the central bank of iceland ’ s 55th annual general meeting, we will have resolved successfully the urgent issues now facing us and can turn our attentions to these other areas of activity. in the field of financial stability, emphasis has been on the risks related to the capital controls and on the formulation and implementation of the prudential rules that, in our opinion, must be in place once the controls are lifted. that work is well underway. and as regards risk assessment and contingency planning, the systemic risk committee and the financial stability council will be meeting next month, and the central bank ’ s financial stability report is scheduled for publication on 22 april. honoured guests : as the chairman of the supervisory board mentioned in his speech, the central bank was relatively successful in working towards its goals in 2014. in addition, a great deal of work was done to ensure the efficacy of the capital controls, the smooth bis central bankers ’ speeches operation of financial system infrastructure, and the recovery of legacy assets from the crisis, among other things. this would not have been possible without the competent and hardworking people employed by the bank. i wish to thank you all for your efforts. in this context, i would like to stress how important it is that, whatever amendments may be made to the central bank act, the bank must remain a strong institution capable of safeguarding monetary and financial stability in iceland. in order to do so, it must have the independence to apply its policy instruments to this end. it must also be a professionally strong and vigorous workplace where senior management and staff members have a dynamic interactive relationship on matters relating to operations, analysis, and policy formulation. in closing, i would like to thank the central bank ’ s many collaborators for a successful cooperative relationship over the past year, in particular the ministry of finance and economic affairs and the financial supervisory authority. i

in the coming years, with persistently low inflation. at the same time it is a major problem that growth does not seem to be generating new jobs to a sufficient extent. this suggests that to a high degree the unemployment is structural. measures must therefore be taken to improve the functioning of the labour market. for further favourable economic development it is also essential that the efforts to reduce government debt are continued. the conditions for monetary policy in the years ahead will then be improved and greater freedom of action will be created for economic policy in the longer term.