intend to take action to support the level of the usd? among others, this is what the ecb ’ s opponent nicolas sarkozy is calling for. what do you think of his calls to see the euro depreciate? it is a very important issue, where i call on all partners in europe, in the executive branches, to be highly responsible and to demonstrate verbal discipline. let me repeat the position of the ecb, as well as the position of the euro area as a whole : exchange rates should reflect economic fundamentals and excess volatility and disorderly movements in exchange rates are undesirable for economic growth. in emerging economies with large and growing current account surpluses, especially china, it is desirable that their effective exchange rates move so that necessary adjustments occur. concerning the dollar, i have noted with great attention that the us authorities have reaffirmed that a strong dollar is in the interest of the us economy. concerning the yen, as stated by the japanese authorities, the japanese economy is on a sustainable recovery path. these developments should be recognized by market participants and incorporated in their assessment of risks. markets should be aware of the risks of one - way bets. - will the ecb interest rates be changed in the near future? i have nothing to add or withdraw from what i have said in my last press conference after the meeting of the ecb governing council in vienna on 4 october. - with what main difficulties are you, as a person in charge of the euro area, confronted with? as far as i understand, it is difficult to avoid imbalances in the euro area, which unites countries that are at very different stages of development. it is true that there are differences among euro area countries, but i would not say that these differences are bigger than those between the different states of the usa, and certainly also not bigger than the differences in economic landscape between certain parts of the russian federation. from that standpoint there is no particular difficulty in implementing the single monetary policy at the level of our very vast economy, for the euro area as a whole, which is of the size of the usa. that being said, we call for the implementation of structural reforms in order to fully achieve the single european market and to improve the flexibility of all markets of goods and services, of the labour market and of the financial market in the euro area. - a number of countries ( including lithuania and the czech republic ) postpone the euro adoption. how

, and all the measures taken to foster the proper functioning of the euro area economy. however, remaining tensions in some euro area sovereign debt markets and their impact on credit conditions, as well as the process of balance sheet adjustment in the financial and non - financial sectors and high unemployment, are expected to continue to dampen the underlying growth momentum. as we said previously, this economic outlook continues to be subject to downside risks, relating in particular to an intensification of tensions in euro area debt markets and their potential spillover to the euro area real economy, as well as to further increases in commodity prices. euro area annual hicp inflation was 2. 6 % in april 2012, according to eurostat ’ s flash estimate, after 2. 7 % in the previous four months. inflation is likely to stay above 2 % in 2012, mainly owing to increases in energy prices, as well as to rises in indirect taxes. on the basis of current futures prices for commodities, annual inflation rates should fall below 2 % again in early 2013. in this context, we will pay particular attention to any signs of pass - through from higher energy prices to wages, profits and general price - setting. however, looking ahead, in an environment of modest growth in the euro area and well - anchored long - term inflation expectations, underlying price pressures should remain limited. bis central bankers ’ speeches risks to the outlook for hicp inflation rates in the coming years are still seen to be broadly balanced. upside risks pertain to higher than expected commodity prices and indirect tax increases, while downside risks relate to weaker than expected developments in economic activity. the monetary analysis indicates that the underlying pace of monetary expansion has remained subdued, with somewhat higher growth rates in the past few months. the annual growth rate of m3 was 3. 2 % in march 2012, compared with 2. 8 % in february. since january we have observed a strengthening in the deposit base of banks. the annual growth rates of loans to non - financial corporations and loans to households ( adjusted for loan sales and securitisation ) stood at 0. 5 % and 1. 7 % respectively in march, both slightly lower than in february. the volume of mfi loans to non - financial corporations and households remained practically unchanged compared with the previous month. money and credit data up to march confirm a broad stabilisation of financial conditions and thereby, as intended by our measures, the avoidance of an abrupt and disorderly adjustment in the balance sheets of credit institutions