value, it is made clear that money is one variable which we look at very carefully in order to examine whether inflationary or deflationary pressures are tending to emerge. we do not, however, react mechanistically to changes in money growth. the formulation of the second pillar is also prompted by the potential changes in economic behaviour on account of the introduction of the euro. it is a broadly based assessment of the outlook for price developments on the basis of an analysis of monetary, financial and economic developments. in this context interest rates, the yield curve, wage developments, public finance, the output gap, surveys of economic sentiment and many other indicators are analysed. use is also made of forecasts produced by other bodies and internally for inflation and other economic variables. this brings me to the role of the exchange rate of the euro in our strategy. since our primary objective is price stability and since the euro area as a whole is a relatively closed economy with an export share of 14 % of gross domestic product, we do not have a target for the exchange rate of the euro, for example, against the us dollar. this does not mean, and it is good to underline this once more, that the ecb is indifferent to the external value of the euro or even neglects it. the external value of the euro is one of the indicators we look at in the broadly based assessment of the outlook for price developments. within that framework, we constantly monitor exchange rate developments, analyse them and shall act on them, if and when this becomes necessary. however, such action will never be mechanistic, nor will it be isolated. the external value of the euro and its development are analysed and considered in the context of other indicators of future price developments. the ecb also tries to assess international confidence in the still very young euro. of course, the level of international confidence in the euro is not the only factor determining its external value, nor is the exchange rate the only indicator of confidence in the euro. it is, for instance, encouraging to see how the euro has been received on the international money and capital markets. i am sure that an internally stable euro will also strongly underpin international confidence in this currency, as it has for other currencies in the past. as the currency of a very large area, the issue of the international role of the euro naturally arises. the ecb takes a neutral stance regarding this role. it will neither be stimulated,

debit funds from one account and credit it to another. the speed of response depended on whether someone was waiting by the telex machine! • now, transferring funds only requires banks to send a swift message containing payment instructions to another bank for funds to be moved, at any time in the day. some banks are selectively opening up their systems to customers, employees, and others. bis central bankers ’ speeches • silicon valley bank plans to offer an api for payments by the end of the year. this will allow their tech - savvy customers ’ systems to process payments without human intervention. • bny mellon has built an internal online api catalogue for services such as pricing, calendars, market and reference data, etc. this has helped its developers to significantly reduce steps to build new innovative apps. more efficient data submission another potential benefit from apis will be a reduction in the cost of regulatory data submission. currently, data submission to mas is still partly manual. we will improve this process. our vision is for data to flow seamlessly in both directions between systems in the financial institutions and mas. this will reduce the ongoing cost of regulatory submissions. this is not a trivial exercise, given the volume and diversity of financial data. well - crafted apis are essential for this vision to work. mas will closely engage the industry to ensure that these apis are clear, simple to implement, and extensible. conclusion i spoke earlier about the telegraph. despite the breakthrough in world travel and communication enabled by the telegraph and other technologies, the globalisation of the late 19th century soon faltered and reversed. there is a lesson here. technology alone does not make connections or create better understanding : it merely gives us the means to make those connections. • what is more important is the spirit of openness and collaboration. • common standards and seamless data sharing are in this spirit. • they will enable us to maximise the benefits of digital and mobile technologies – reap enormous cost efficiencies and extend our reach and understanding. and it is this spirit of openness and collaboration in innovation that will help create a smart financial centre. we have only just begun. thank you. bis central bankers ’ speeches