measure – sank by 19 % in april compared with march, while the u. s. itraxx went down by 16 %. corresponding risk measures for the republic of austria have also improved substantially. in europe, the issuing volume of corporate bonds was roughly four times as high in the first four months of 2009 as in the first four months of 2008 ; and other indicators, too, for instance order intake figures, point toward recovery. at the recent imf spring meeting there was, incidentally, a buzz about the emergence of “ green shoots ” of economic recovery. and at the bis meeting this week there was even talk of a “ forest of green shoots ” sprouting in china. current economic conditions around the world, which are characterized by problems in the global banking sector and a sharp global economic contraction, have created tremendous challenges for policymakers. a major challenge is, of course, the dimension the current financial crisis has reached. another challenge is how to ensure the effectiveness of the economic policy response. with regard to the dimension of the crisis, there is a broad consensus among economic policymakers and economists today – unlike at the time of the crisis in the 1930s – that it takes strategically coordinated macroeconomic policies to respond to a situation in which the tensions in financial markets and the contraction of the real economy are mutually reinforcing. the underlying rationale of measures – and thus, the consensus – must be to boost aggregate demand, strengthen bank balance sheets and revive and sustain the flow of credit. the key to effectively counteracting the economic contraction triggered by the crisis is to find the right mix of expansionary monetary and fiscal policies. central banks, thus, play a pivotal role in this process. last year, above all in the period following the collapse of lehman brothers in september, central banks around the globe moved to take a number of nonstandard measures in implementing monetary policy ; they also used new instruments, on top of the traditional framework, to provide liquidity to the banking system. you will all remember the headlines the sheer dimension of these measures made. against this backdrop it makes sense to revisit the fundamentals of monetary policy. modern central banks are economic policy institutions with a clearly defined target, namely the primary goal of maintaining price stability. as you all know, the eurosystem has defined price stability as an increase of the harmonised index of consumer prices of close to, but below 2 % in the euro area over the medium term. modern central banks enjoy a

financial integration. in 2017, the european economy grew at its fastest rate in 10 years and for the first time since 2007, all member states saw their economies expand. for 2018, gdp growth is expected to remain strong, based on strong private consumption as well as increased investment and exports, and unemployment rates are receding toward pre - crisis levels. robust growth helps both further reduce government deficit and debt levels and improve labor market conditions. “ the wind is back in europe ’ s sails. but we will go nowhere unless we catch that wind, ” as president juncker said in his 2017 state of the union address. we can use the current good times to make our economies more resilient. this means building fiscal buffers and implementing further economic reforms to strengthen the foundations of our economic and monetary union. we have already made great strides in making its architecture more robust, but it is still not complete. further work lies ahead to make sure that the benefits of emu reach all eu citizens. the date of this year ’ s economics conference was not chosen randomly. the beginning of july coincides with the start of the austrian eu presidency in the second half of 2018. after 1998 and 2006, this is now the third time that austria is holding the presidency of the council of the european union. this time, the presidency faces major challenges including • the brexit negotiations with the u. k., • the debates on the multi - annual financial framework, • progress in completing banking union, • the implementation of the european security and migration agenda, • the fight against terrorism, and • the debate on the future of the european union. the austrian eu presidency takes place at a politically sensitive time as the european parliament ’ s legislative period ends in 2019. important dossiers have to be finalized before the european elections in spring 2019. for the european union as a whole, the euro is a symbol of a peaceful europe, a keystone of economic integration and political unity. for the world, the euro has become a major player in the international monetary system and the second most important global currency. the single currency rests on a common monetary policy, where the governing council of the ecb can and must only target the euro area aggregate when taking monetary policy decisions. in mid - 2012, mario draghi ’ s statement that the ecb is ready to do “ whatever it takes to preserve the euro, ” within our mandate undoubtedly reestablished confidence in sovereign bonds. in response to the crisis, the eu moreover