growth is so heavily dependent upon external conditions. meanwhile, since it is a global rather than a regional equilibrium that must be achieved in order to maintain global economic growth and stability, we need to redouble our efforts to promote global cooperation so as to create an environment that is favorable to us. my dear friends and colleagues at the bank of korea, the revision of the bank of korea act at the end of 1997 gave us a single responsibility, for price stability, and to achieve this goal we have operated an inflation targeting regime. with bis central bankers ’ speeches the 2011 revision of the act we have now assumed partial responsibility for financial stability as well, but are all well aware that this can be achieved only through cooperation among the government, the supervisory authorities and the central bank. in light of this, we need to closely examine the cases of the u. s., which operates, as its organization in charge of financial stability a financial stability oversight council ( fsoc ), consisting of the treasury department, the nation ’ s supervisory organizations and the fed, and of other countries. all over the world today, central banks are increasingly being asked to participate in the efforts to promote economic growth and prevent future crisis through more active and diverse means. although based on the premise that it is within the central bank ’ s legal responsibilities, the fact that ecb president mario draghi's promise last july to do “ whatever it takes to preserve the euro ” has been the most frequently mentioned and most strongly supported policy intention since then is direct proof of this. mr. draghi ’ s words show us how the central bank ’ s standing and roles are rapidly changing in directions different from in the past. and in fact the roles of the bank of korea are also expanding in various ways, in line with changes in our internal and external environments. i would like now to consider the current tasks that we face, by dividing them into four areas : first, and above all, maintaining price stability is our responsibility stipulated in article 1 of the bank of korea act. we have set the medium - term inflation target range at from 2. 5 to 3. 5 percent for the next three years beginning from 2013, and are operating monetary policy accordingly. it is the central bank ’ s primary goal to stabilize and ensure that the medium - to long - term inflation expectations of economic agents converge to the inflation target, but since we use cpi as an inflation indicator, which has a decisive influence on inflation expectations, it is

as possible, with reliance on market participants – in their role as depositors, counterparties, creditors, and shareholders – to exercise discipline on banks. policymakers have to find the right balance between the more visible hand of government supervision and the invisible hand of market forces. second, pursuing sound macroeconomic policies is another way for policymakers to help prevent banking and financial crises. for instance, it is beneficial to have sound and sustainable monetary and fiscal policy to provide a stable operating environment for entrepreneurs and financial institutions and markets. many past crises were precipitated either by an external shock affecting an already vulnerable financial system or by market participants targeting vulnerabilities in certain markets or in certain institutions or governments. history has taught us that if a condition or policy looks unsustainable, it most likely is and market forces will eventually bring it to an end. to paraphrase herb stein, if a policy cannot go on forever, it won't! third, i referred earlier to research on the benefits of disclosure and transparency. our analysis contributes to the evidence that having an open and transparent financial system and economy, accompanied by reliable and accurate accounting standards, generally benefits a country and its market participants. a core principle of economics is that markets are more competitive, and therefore more efficient, when accurate information is available to both consumers and suppliers. information is thus critical to the effective functioning of financial markets : timely and accurate financial information about markets, market participants, and governments is important for all actors to be able to make informed decisions. this is of course true during normal times, but perhaps more so during a crisis when market participants and governments are sometimes trying to determine where problems lie and how severe they might be. lack of information can present additional problems during a crisis, and incorrect or incomplete information provided by firms, governments, and other institutions can severely undermine their credibility, worsening the problem. conclusion these conferences on the asian crisis serve as excellent forums to analyze the events of ten years ago and share views on ways to prevent and mitigate future crises. they also allow market participants to offer feedback on past policy steps, including which past policies helped and which ones hindered. policymakers and market participants must remember that preventing and mitigating financial crises requires a blend of sharp analysis, keen judgment, practical experience, and rigorous understanding of how markets work – in both normal times and times of stress. i have tried to provide a framework for analyzing the impact of banking crises on real economic activity,