. we will cross that bridge when we come to it or, as my mother used to say : if the skies fall down, all the birds are dead. interest rates in the united states are higher, but you have to realise that the united states is in a totally different phase of the cycle than we are and whether that will in any way induce capital flows to move differently from what they are moving today remains to be seen. and the third part of your question was, have we in any way made the conclusion that the banks, when the rate was 3 %, were not giving in enough to the demand for credit. no, on the contrary, as you know, the development of credit to the private sector has been quite buoyant over the past few months, although its bias of increase has come down somewhat. the last time i was here, i reported that credit to the private sector was growing at an annual rate of nearly 10 % ; the latest figure we have now is that it has come down to a rate of slightly over 9 %. but then, when you analyse that credit to the private sector and its development, it is also very clear that those high rates of growth are particularly present in the smaller countries of europe and not too much in the larger countries, although there is quite a difference between the various countries. so, in itself, that rate of growth of credit, which is already moderating somewhat, is not a cause of inflationary concern for us, and neither is the move today any inducement to the banks to be more forthcoming in giving credit. they are already quite forthcoming. question ( translation ) : mr. duisenberg, the situation in europe at the moment, especially this latest interest rate move by the ecb, now reminds me somewhat of japan. you reduce interest rates time and again, yet on the other hand, no progress is being made in the areas of politics and restructuring in europe. in december, although i cannot quote you directly, you stated, much in the same way as today, that following the cut in interest rates the situation with regard to interest rates in europe would be settled. it is now the beginning of april and we see obviously a further cut in interest rates. is there not the danger, mr. duisenberg, that this process is about to begin again and that, after a certain period, owing to a lack of willingness in europe and in germany, in particular, to bring about structural reforms, the

it may be worth noting that goods prices may continue to move upwards temporarily, in particular as oil prices increased strongly from mid - february onwards. such movements reflect the higher volatility of price changes of some categories of goods, in particular imported oil and other commodities. the interest rate decision has been taken in a forward - looking perspective, focusing on the mediumterm trends in inflation and the compatibility of these trends with the eurosystem ’ s definition of price stability. in the view of the governing council, monetary growth is - at the current juncture - not a risk for future price stability. the decision taken today keeps monetary policy on a longer - term stability - oriented course and, by doing so, contributes to creating an economic environment in which the considerable growth potential of the euro area could be exploited. those responsible for other policy areas are urged now even more to take the necessary steps to improve longer - term growth prospects for the euro area through strictly and decisively adhering to the aims of the stability and growth pact and through convincing structural reforms in the economy. i should now like to inform you about some of the other matters considered today. the governing council examined the outcome of a test run of the production of euro banknotes. this so - called zero production run involved the printing works of the participating countries. the main purposes of this test were, first, to check the compliance of the test banknotes against the technical specifications and, second, to prove that all printing works are in a position to produce the euro banknotes to the same high quality standards. the result of this test was positive, as only some minor technical specifications need to be modified slightly. the printing works will now start their final preparations for the commencement of the mass production of the euro banknotes. the governing council also decided to establish an analysis centre for counterfeit euro banknotes. as is already indicated by its name, the main purpose of this analysis centre will be to technically analyse and classify new types of printed counterfeits, and to store the related technical data in a database. the analysis centre will be located at the ecb in frankfurt. we are now at your disposal should you have any questions. transcript of the questions asked and the answers given by dr. willem f. duisenberg, president of the ecb, and christian noyer, vice - president of the ecb question : i would be very interested if you had anything to say about the exchange rate of the euro, if the