. 5. exit strategy let me now turn to the last of the four questions that i posed earlier on : how and when do central banks need to unwind the extra monetary stimulus? the simple answer to this question would be – of course – when the economy rebounds and inflationary prospects are back in line with the central bank ’ s price stability objective. unfortunately, for a number of reasons, formulating an adequate exit strategy is not such an easy task. why? let me mention two choices that need to be made : first, devising the right sequence for the phasing out of the conventional and unconventional monetary policy accommodation ; second, deciding on the speed at which the unconventional accommodation is removed. let me first clarify what it means, in practice, to unwind unconventional monetary policy operations. in the case of quantitative easing and credit easing policies, it normally implies selling assets outright, and in significant amounts. in the case of the endogenous easing measures, the unwinding happens automatically, since banks should naturally reduce their demand for central bank money and increase interbank lending as their situation normalises. starting with the problem of the right sequence, it should be reminded that an environment of extremely low interest rates and ample liquidity aims at favouring borrowers and penalising lenders, over the medium term, when the policy is reversed. on the other hand, most of the unconventional measures put in place are designed to stimulate lending, to convince savers to hold risky longer - term assets. the effectiveness of these measures therefore mainly depends on the readiness of banks to go back to their main business of lending to households and firms rather than parking excess reserves with the central bank. clearly, an increase in policy rates – and in particular in the deposit rate – risks undermining banks ’ incentive to re - engage in funding the private sector. in a similar vein, prospects of rising interest rates may discourage private savers from purchasing longer - term assets, as a tightening of monetary policy inevitably implies a capital loss for those who bought these assets. raising policy rates, or the expectation of such increases, when confidence is not fully restored could therefore be counterproductive. what, then, are the implications for the sequencing of unwinding conventional and unconventional policy measures? in simple terms, it means that non - standard measures that aim mainly at restoring the orderly functioning of money markets, such as supplementary longer - term refinancing operations or an extended menu of eligible collaterals, might have

campaign ". this campaign focuses on four main themes : the visual appearance of the banknotes, their security features, their denominations and the common changeover modalities. it is designed to complement the other information campaigns on the euro, particularly those run by the national authorities in each euro area country. naturally, and as i mentioned earlier, we are also relying on the efforts of the banking community in this regard. at the end of the day, no television advertisement or billboard can replace the direct and immediate advice which competent bank employees can give to their customers. ladies and gentlemen, roughly a year from now, we shall finally be using the new euro banknotes and coins and our national currencies will no longer be in circulation. however, even then, the euro area will still not completely function as a truly unified currency zone. as i mentioned earlier, euro area financial markets are not yet fully integrated. i would also like to draw your attention to another area, which directly concerns the banking community, and where the potential benefits of the euro have yet to be fully exploited. i am referring to the price differential that continues to exist between cross - border retail payments within the euro area and those within individual member states. like the cash changeover, this is another area where the banking community has a crucial role to play in securing the full benefits of the common currency. i appreciate that this also represents a substantial task. however, once european businesses and citizens are using the euro for their everyday transactions, the provision of low - cost, efficient cross - border retail payment services will undoubtedly become a clear policy priority. finally, returning to the title of my speech " where are we 11 months before e - day? ", i would say that so far we are well on track. even before the introduction of euro banknotes and coins, the euro has already delivered much of what was expected. we regard these achievements with some satisfaction. nonetheless, this does not mean that we are complacent. the enormous challenge of the cash changeover still has to be met and, despite all past and ongoing work, a lot remains to be done. even after the changeover, the ecb does not anticipate settling down to " business as usual " anytime soon. our objective is to make the euro a lasting success. i am confident that - by also building on our good working relations with the banking community - we shall continue to succeed in this endeavour. thank you ladies and gentlemen.