a sharp increase in the demand for cash in cyprus in march and at the beginning of april. let me also add that ecb, statistical data warehouse. deutsche bundesbank ( 2012 ) “ zahlungsverhalten in deutschland 2011 ” ; jonker, n., kosse, a. hernandez, l. ( 2012 ) “ cash usage in the netherlands : how much, where, when, who and whenever one wants? ”, dnb occasional studies, vol. 10, no. 2 ; mooslechner, p., stix, h., wagner, k. ( 2013 ) “ the use of payment instruments in austria ”, monetary policy and the economy, q4 / 12, oesterreichische nationalbank. schmiedel, h., kostova, g., ruttenberg, w. ( 2012 ) “ the social costs of retail payment instruments : a european perspective ”, ecb occasional paper series, no 137. de nederlandsche bank ( 2012 ) “ factsheet : contante betalingen geteld http : / / www. dnb. nl / en / news / news - and - archive / dnbulletin - 2012 / dnb274102. jsp. 2011 ”, available at bis central bankers ’ speeches the eurosystem stood ready to accommodate the resulting precautionary demand for banknotes to avoid further disruptions. the situation in cyprus has also reminded us that cash is both a means of payment and a store of value of last resort. if banks are closed, cheques are no longer accepted and even the payment cards of stressed banks are no longer trusted, so cash appears to be the only way to settle a transaction immediately and without credit risk. at the same time, it has to be said that while some retailers preferred cash, payment cards continued to be used for payments at point - of - sale and for cash withdrawals. this reminds us also of the interdependence of cash and payment cards. when banks are closed, atms are the only source of cash. but in order to withdraw cash from atms people need a payment card, and cards and atm networks must be fully operational. now, how do all these developments influence the eurosystem ’ s perception of cash? first, even though we do not expect a major changes any time soon, electronic payments will continue to grow. but it will be a

risks to price stability and bring inflation expectations back to levels consistent with price stability. the recent coordinated interest rate cut was unprecedented by historical standards and was very much welcomed as a sign of the strong commitment of the international central banking community to addressing the macroeconomic implications of the financial market turmoil. at the same time, the effectiveness of the coordinated monetary policy moves was very much enhanced by the public ’ s trust in their own central banks ’ commitment to fulfilling their respective mandates. in this respect, the public at large should be confident that the monetary policy in the euro area will be always consistent with the ecb ’ s mandate of delivering medium term price stability at home and with the need to maintain expectations firmly anchored at levels consistent with price stability. this is the best contribution that the ecb can provide in order to preserve the purchasing power of citizens over the medium term and to support sustainable growth and employment in the euro area. 4. 1. 5 new temporary measures to expand the collateral framework and the provision of liquidity in the context of recent initiatives undertaken by the eu authorities to restore confidence and the appropriate functioning of our financial systems, the governing council of the ecb approved last wednesday a new set of temporary measures designed to enhance the provision of long - term euro liquidity and to expand the list of collateral accepted in the eurosystem monetary policy operations. these new temporary measures aim to further enhance the provision of liquidity to solvent banks, while also contributing to restore confidence among market participants in the current environment in which money markets remain under stress and the traditional channels of liquidity transmission are impaired. given the starting position of money markets in the transmission mechanism of monetary policy, ensuring their smooth and orderly functioning is a primary objective for central banks. as part of the new measures, we have decided to strengthen the provision of long - term refinancing in euro over the rest of the year and the first quarter of 2009. the new measures include inter alia the switch to a fixed - rate tender with full allotment for longer - term refinancing operations, consistent with the procedure already in use for the weekly main refinancing operations. at the same time, the ecb will continue to steer liquidity towards balanced conditions in a way consistent with the objective of keeping short - term interest rates close to the key policy rate ( the interest rate on the main refinancing operation ). in order to facilitate the steering of liquidity, the ecb will also accept fixed term