area data compiled by eurostat and the nsis. in particular, the ecb attaches considerable importance to the reliability and timeliness of the so - called principal european economic indicators ( peeis ), which comprise the indicators for core consumer prices, national accounts, shortterm business, labour markets and external trade. in november of last year the ecofin council recognised that, in general, the timeliness targets set in 2002 had now been achieved for the majority of the peeis and invited eurostat and the ecb to review the scope, timeliness and quality of the peeis, also in the light of the evolving needs of users. this brings me to the important issue of the communication of statistics. the importance of the appropriate communication of statistics communication with the general public and financial markets is crucial for any central bank because it helps to enhance the effectiveness of monetary policy. euro area statistics play an important role in the ecb ’ s communication, and it is therefore of great importance to the ecb that these statistics be highly credible and very accessible. in total, the ecb publishes around 70 statistical press releases per year, including monthly monetary statistics and data on interest rates, securities and the balance of payments ; quarterly euro area accounts and statistics on investment funds and the international investment position ; and annual payment statistics and general data on monetary financial institutions. even more detailed and more frequent statistics are made available on the ecb ’ s website. in other to enhance the accessibility of its statistics, the ecb launched its online statistical data warehouse in 2006. maintaining the public ’ s confidence in the ecb statistics requires high quality standards. such standards were set out in a recently published framework governing the quality of ecb statistics. 8 in addition, in the performance of their statistical tasks, both the ecb and the ncbs adhere to the statistical principles and ethical and quality standards set out in their “ public commitment with respect to the escb ’ s statistical function ”. 9 the independence granted to the escb by the treaty means that there is no political interference in the see “ the introduction of harmonised competitiveness indicators for euro area countries ” in the february 2007 issue of the ecb ’ s monthly bulletin, and http : / / www. ecb. europa. eu / stats / exchange / hci / html / hci _ 200801. en. html. see “ review of statistics on payments and securities trading, clearing and settlement ” in the january 2008 issue of the ecb

. though much work is required on the corporate sector in the march toward modernization of the thai economy, the government and the central bank also have vital roles in maintaining stable economic environment and providing the required infrastructures to allow the private sector to drive forward to create wealth and prosperity. several long - term plans have been made in the past couple years. on the macroeconomic front, the bank of thailand has adopted inflation targeting as a framework of our monetary policy since may 2000. it may be a little too early to claim our success, but the results thus far have been encouraging. long - term interest rates of the interpolated 14 - year government bonds were reduced from 8. 3 percent at the beginning of 2000 to currently at 6. 1 percent. inflation remained subdued and will stay within the target range during the next two years. the maturity of state enterprise debentures offered in the market increased from a maximum of 7 - year in 1998 up to 20 years in 2000, reflecting greater confidence on the long - term economic stability. on the financial system level, we are drafting a new financial system master plan in cooperation with stakeholders and representatives from other regulators within thailand such as the sec as well as the department of insurance. this will provide a new and vibrant financial system whose survival will be judged by the value added it creates and delivers to the clients. and these will ensure adequate provision of financial services as required by the new economic environment. as for the current economic policy, we are not yet out of the crisis. the economy recovered from a 10. 8 percent contraction in 1998 and posed a 4. 2 percent and 4. 3 percent in 1999 and 2000, respectively. nevertheless, the global slowdown, particularly from our main trading partners such as the us and japan who account for roughly 35 percent of our exports, have complicated our tasks. here, it is the lack of confidence in the overall economic conditions that is the main problem that prevents the resumption of business lending. earlier this week, the government announced its plans to put in place additional fiscal stimulus for the fiscal year 2002, as well as programs to stimulate domestic spending. these include new measures to utilize excess liquidity in the banking sector to further enhance economic activities, to increase investment through a matching fund, as well as to retrain the workforce. these should provide the much - needed economic stimulus to the corporate sector. prosperity of our nations rests on the hard work of the corporations, for what really matters in the long run is your