andreas dombret : deutsche bundesbank ’ s 2013 financial stability review opening statement by dr andreas dombret, member of the executive board of the deutsche bundesbank, at the press conference of the deutsche bundesbank ’ s 2013 financial stability review, frankfurt am main, 14 november 2013. * * * an overview of risks i am pleased once again to present, together with ms lautenschlager, this year ’ s edition of our financial stability review. compared with previous reviews, this year ’ s is brought out in a somewhat calmer environment. the tension on the international financial markets has eased. this is beneficial to financial stability in germany, in line with the degree of calm prevailing internationally after a period of turbulence. the situation is also reflected in the stress indicator for the german financial system. the indicator is well down from the levels it reached after lehman and at the height of the european sovereign debt crisis. however, two major risk factors remain. • first, the low - interest - rate environment. this is placing a growing strain on the german financial system. on the international financial markets, there is an increasing risk that the search for yield will result in excessive behaviour and will give further impetus to the shadow banking system. german banks face greater pressure on profitability. for life insurers, low interest rates are increasingly eating away at their financial buffers. • second, the european debt crisis is not yet over. the risk of contagion remains high. it is a matter for concern for us that the ties between governments and domestic banks have tightened again in several countries. i would now like to discuss each of these issues in greater detail. low - interest - rate environment affecting the financial system when considering the low - interest - rate environment, people may be tempted to say : one man ’ s joy is another man ’ s sorrow. it is good for house builders and buyers and for shareholders. for savers and endowments, it is not so good. your personal view of the lowinterest - rate environment may therefore depend on which group you fall into. you can decide for yourself whether low interest rates are a boon or an annoyance. but we are not talking here about personal finance. we are concerned with the longer - term dangers to financial stability, and they affect everyone. low interest rates have without doubt helped to stabilise the situation. but now the time must actually be used. by governments to consolidate their finances and to strengthen competitiveness

ivan sramko : euro implementation in slovakia speech by mr ivan sramko, governor of the national bank of slovakia, at the opening of the european central bank exhibition in the national bank of slovakia, bratislava, 24 september 2008. * * * i am pleased to welcome you at the present ceremonial opening of the exhibition of the european central bank about euro and on the eve of a big international conference on euro implementation in slovakia. it is more than symbolic that this exhibition is located just here, on the grounds of the national bank of slovakia. already from the very beginning, when the initiatives for euro implementation in our country were only emerging, the nbs several times declared its support for the entry into the monetary union as soon as practicable. our recommendations were based on serious analysis a€ “ we were assessing the readiness of our economy for the eu membership, we were evaluating how quickly the slovak economy would be able to approach the economies of the countries within eurozone, we were assessing the possibilities to comply with the maastricht criteria from the points of time and costs. of course, we were considering both favourable and unfavourable impacts of our future membership in eurozone. according to all the analysis available the benefits were clearly prevailing. the development of euro implementation strategy in 2003 and later on the creation of the national plan of euro implementation in 2005 followed. the predictions and analysis were the basis for setting the economic policy that ensured smooth preparation of our economy to euro. at present, all the decisions and assessments are known and with the new year the common currency will become a part of our everyday life. by accepting the euro as the national currency slovakia will become the member of a strong club of monetary union states and a new space will be opened for our country for its stabile economic development which will be reflected in other aspects of our lives. hundreds of people from various institutions have been participating at various projects relating to the access of euro. many of them have been the employees of the national bank of slovakia. i would like to thank all of them for their efforts and persistency by which they significantly contributed to the fact than on january 1, 2009, slovakia will become the 16th country of eurozone. i would also like to thank the colleagues from the ecb and partner central banks for their support and co - operation. ladies and gentlemen, i believe we will all get used to euro in the course of time and that euro will become a natural part of our lives. i wish