of the total. finally, it should also be emphasised that, as the stress tests performed by the banco de espana suggested, the effects of the crisis across banks have been uneven. in fact, the dispersion in various significant variables, in particular in impairment losses and results, increased. starting positions, in terms of equity and credit quality, were already divergent. moreover, in a crisis such as the current one, in which the pandemic is affecting different regions and sectors of activity in different ways, the worsening of banks ’ solvency will foreseeably hinge on their degree of exposure to such regions and sectors. the current situation : the importance of maintaining stimulus measures and targeting them more specifically the current macroeconomic setting is characterised by an incomplete, gradual and uncertain recovery. indeed, as a result of the restrictions on mobility that had to be applied in the first quarter, a further decline in gdp in this period cannot be ruled out. this would mean that, at end - march, gdp would still be slightly over 9 pp below its pre - crisis level. in any event, we should acknowledge that the development of effective vaccines against the virus has contained some of the risks to the economy. and, in turn, this has equipped the authorities with what is, in fact, also the best economic policy tool available to usher in the recovery : the roll - out of vaccination programmes that allow for the progressive lifting of the restrictions on economic activity. in this situation, retaining the exceptional support measures for the economy is warranted until the recovery firms. this support is also crucial for preventing the crisis from being compounded by a financial component that would deepen and lengthen it. from the standpoint of the banking sector, the ultimate impact of the crisis will depend both on its scale and duration and on the effectiveness of economic policies in mitigating its effects on households and firms. along these lines and in the case of monetary policy, in december we extended our pandemic emergency purchase programme until at least march 2022 to ensure that financing conditions are favourable. more recently, the ecb has sought to counter the rise in long - term interest rates observed in recent months, in a setting in which the macroeconomic projections are similar to those in december, with a medium - term inflation forecast some distance off our objective and below that expected before the crisis. specifically, at the ecb we have stated our intent to use the flexibility of our pandemic emergency purchase

##a, the single euro payments area. the goal of the sepa project is to make electronic payments as easy, convenient and straightforward for the residents of any euro area member country to carry out as are their cash payments in other countries in the union. the initial aim is to eliminate the differences between making a national payment and a cross - border one, although the benefits extend also to payments made in the national arena. what is involved is a further step in the ongoing integration of financial services in europe. to achieve this, we must adapt to a new set of rules and uniform standards in europe. but we have very little time remaining : community legislation envisages sepa being in place as from 1 february next year. it is a far - reaching project, necessitating changes in the relationship between paymentservices users and providers. that involves efforts and investment on the part of financial institutions, but also affects users, irrespective of their size. it is important that banks should strive to make the transition by their customers easier. in this connection, communications and advice to customers must be stepped up, informing them of the new circumstances ahead and offering them the necessary support in their migration to the new payments scenario. our eurosystem central banks are firmly committed to sepa, among other reasons because we believe it will contribute to shoring up confidence in the single currency, by helping lift obstacles and promoting competition. and now i hope you all enjoy your meal. i believe there will be a round of questions – easy ones i trust – after dessert. thank you. bis central bankers ’ speeches