the eu treaty. it implies that the implementation of the monetary policy is practically fully delegated to the national central banks. consequently, instead of to the ecb, the commercial banks in the netherlands must turn to the nederlandsche bank for liquidity, and hold the statutory cash reserves on an account with the nederlandsche bank. besides the implementation of monetary policy, the national banks are also entrusted with the management of the ecb reserves. so, we do not just manage our own gold en foreign exchange reserve assets, but also a part of the gold holdings in frankfurt. another example of the decentralised approach : should the eurosystem decide to intervene in the foreign exchange markets, the dealing rooms of the national banks will also assist in the practical execution of the measures involved. the second key task consists in promoting the smooth operation of payments. this task is assigned to us under the bank act and in our capacity as participant in the escb. for the settlement of transactions to be efficient, it is essential to have a payments system that is reliable. everybody should be able to rest assured that the banknotes and coins they receive are genuine. this, of course, applies to guilders and euro alike. the nederlandsche bank orders the banknotes from johan enschede in haarlem, manages the supplies, sees to the distribution, checks whether incoming banknotes are soiled or false etc. the responsibility for the minting and issuing of the coins rests with the minister of finance. the coins are minted by the koninklijke nederlandse munt at utrecht, but, just as the banknotes, distributed by the nederlandsche bank. the nederlandsche bank not only deals with cash payments, but also with non - cash, or funds, transfers. funds transfers must be settled smoothly and at a reasonable fee. under my chairmanship, a working committee composed of senior officers who are currently conducting a survey of the fees involved by payments and of the payments infrastructure. on the basis of the final report, which will probably appear in february 2002, the nederlandsche bank will make recommendations towards enhancing the efficiency and the competitive and innovative power of the dutch payments system. the nederlandsche bank will also contribute to the efficiency of payments by ensuring that the payments systems and securities transaction systems are secure and reliable. this task is called " oversight ". and, last but not least, we come to supervision. as the supervisory task is purely a

the number of business failures that usually follow an economic downturn. we helped to 1 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches set the stage for the rapid economic rebound that has followed the reductions of pandemic - related restrictions in the third quarter last year and in recent months. * * * the economic recovery is strong, but new waves of the pandemic may slow it down. the priority of economic policies is to continue providing support to the economy until the recovery is set to last and uncertainty subsides. however, as the pandemic has been with us for quite some time now, it is important that policy support is targeted at the most affected and vulnerable households and businesses and that it does not hamper structural adjustment, as this could undermine productivity growth, which has slowed markedly in europe over the last 25 years. the main operational challenge is how to distinguish between viable and nonviable businesses. for those that have dismal chances of survival, it is necessary to prepare the ground for the most efficient liquidation process. it is important that capital is freed up and directed to promising activities and that workers who are likely to lose jobs are equipped with the skills for reallocation as soon as possible. the eventual unwinding of the remaining pandemic support measures should be gradual and guided by stable improvement in economic data. in the medium term, fiscal and monetary policy will need to begin rebuilding space to address future shocks. however, planning for necessary structural reforms, to the pension and healthcare system, for example, should start as soon as possible, as their implementation usually takes time. * * * the european banking system remains resilient, as shown by recent stress tests carried out by the eba and the ecb. its solid position reflects, among other things, the cleaning up of balance sheets, recapitalisations, and strengthening of regulatory and supervisory frameworks after the previous financial crisis. the path of strengthening the resilience of the banking system is not yet complete, however. it is therefore necessary to continue towards the completion of the banking union and bank resolution framework, including a common backstop, and with harmonisation of national insolvency laws. as the health and economic situation stabilises, additional attention should be paid to the long - term challenges of many european banks, namely low profitability and the issue of sustainability of bank business models. as the recovery continues, banks will continue to play an important role in financing businesses and households.