risks to the transmission mechanism related to the pandemic. later in july, we also announced a new monetary policy tool, the transmission protection instrument ( tpi ), complementing our existing tools. this tool has been designed to counter unwarranted, disorderly market dynamics, with sufficient flexibility to respond to the severity of the risks facing policy transmission. it will safeguard the singleness of our monetary policy as the governing council proceeds on its policy rate normalisation path, helping us ensure price stability over the medium term in line with our mandate. the tpi is subject to a list of eligibility criteria which the governing council will use to assess whether a jurisdiction pursues sound and sustainable fiscal and macroeconomic policies. conclusion to conclude, inflation continues to rise across the euro area, affecting citizens in all areas of life. the latest eurobarometer indicates that almost two out of three citizens see rising inflation as one of the two most important issues at the moment. [ 2 ] higher energy and food prices are weighing in particular on the most vulnerable households and the situation is expected to get worse before it gets better. in this environment, it is essential that fiscal support used to shield those households from the impact of higher prices is temporary and targeted. this limits the risk of fuelling inflationary pressures, thereby also facilitating the task of monetary policy to ensure price stability, and contributing to preserving debt sustainability. the best contribution monetary policy can make to the euro area economy is to ensure price stability over the medium term. this means ensuring inflation expectations remain well anchored and that demand conditions are consistent with our target. as i pledged to keep the european parliament and the general public informed about our progress, let me end by providing you with a brief update on our ongoing work to incorporate climate change considerations into our monetary policy operations. as of next monday, the eurosystem will take into account a climate score of issuers in all purchases of corporate bonds, in the context of the eurosystem ’ s ongoing reinvestment purchases. this will result in the purchase of more bonds issued by companies with a good climate performance and fewer bonds from those with a poor climate performance. these measures will reduce the eurosystem ’ s exposure to climate - related financial risk, as well as support the green transition of the economy in line with the eu ’ s climate neutrality objectives. as of the first quarter of 2023, we will start publishing climate - related information on our corporate bond holdings, and we will regularly report on the

the euro is present on all major financial markets around the globe. currency trading in euro has been going on for two and a half years. shares are denominated in euro on most european stock exchanges. the next and final step will be the introduction of euro - denominated banknotes and coins on 1 january 2002. the introduction of the new euro banknotes and coins is the final step which completes the creation of the single currency. with this changeover, the considerable benefits of the single currency will become apparent to european citizens. a natural advantage of the single currency is that it reduces transaction and information costs in the euro area. it enhances the function of money as a medium of exchange by lowering the costs typically associated with market transactions. generally speaking, money is an important component of any market economy. in a complex exchange economy, money is an important means of achieving decentralised co - ordination between the plans and actions of economic agents across time and space. the function of money as a medium of exchange is significantly enhanced by enlarging the area in which a single currency is used as legal tender not least since this eliminates exchange rate uncertainty within the currency area. the introduction of the new euro banknotes and coins in the euro area, which comprises around 300 million citizens, is in many respects a huge challenge. first, the launch of the euro banknotes requires an initial supply of about 14. 25 billion banknotes – representing a value of around €641 billion – to be available by a fixed deadline. second, the banking sector, security carriers, retailers and the cash - operated machine industry are closely involved in the preparations at an early stage, as a smooth cash changeover can only be achieved in a short period of time by systematic and co - ordinated interaction on the part of all the main participants. third, the successful introduction of euro cash is preceded by a goal - oriented information campaign to prepare the general public and professional cash handlers in europe for the new currency. the president of the ecb launched this campaign on 30 august and at the same time presented the details of the new banknotes to the public. this new currency which will be in some 100 days'time in our pockets, is our money, a tangible reality and a symbol of european integration in every sense of the word. the euro banknotes are produced with state - of - the - art security standards and combine many of the highly effective security features already used in the national banknotes of