strategy that involves a system for monitoring and assessing the risks and liquidity of the economy as a whole, including at a sector level. the international community may assist in developing best practices related to reserve and debt management : let me quote for example the more stringent publishing obligations on net foreign exchange reserves adopted within the context of the imf special data dissemination standard ( sdds ) or the imf and the world bank initiative to promote good practices in reserve and sovereign liability management. 1. 2 clarify the principles governing crisis resolution and the distribution of roles among actors i would like to give you my views on two issues at stake which are of great importance and strongly inter - related, i. e. the role of the imf and the involvement of the private sector. 1. 2. 1 the imf should remain at the centre of the process for crisis resolution whatever the prevention features, crises will still occur in the future. in that respect, i would like to focus on the roles of the imf as regards both international lending and crisis management. - as regards its lending role, in my view, the imf cannot act as an international lender of last resort. first, it has only limited resources that can not match private capital flows ; second, the perception of such a role would increase moral hazard. the imf should not thus provide unlimited and unconditional financial support, its catalytic role remaining a core element of financial crisis resolution. as a consequence, imf financial assistance should be ex ante limited in terms of quotas. access above these regular limits should be exceptional and allowed only in cases of systemic risks. however, if short - term financing is the bulk of imf lending role, the imf should also promote macro - stability, including structural matters relevant for macro - economic policies. as a consequence, the imf needs a medium and long term surveillance and medium and long term facilities for adjustments to take hold. - 2. as regards its role in crisis management, the imf could concentrate on agreeing with the crisis country a program which ensures adjustment and financing over the short and medium - term : · this means, for example, that imf conditionality should cover short and medium and long term issues. the asian crisis has led to an extension of imf conditionality to structural areas, mainly as regards financial systems restructuring issues. this extension was somewhat criticised but i do not share such views : including structural matters in the imf conditionality is clearly in line with

. there are a number of factors that help to explain why the increases in oil prices and their impact on inflation have not influenced wage developments in a period of falling unemployment. they include the employers and the general public ’ s confidence in the capacity of the ecb to ensure price stability. it is crucial that social partners continue the process of wage moderation seen in the past. this will not only facilitate the task of monetary policy, but will contribute to the continued reduction of unemployment in the euro area. it is the best recipe for sustainable robust growth. in addition, long - term growth perspectives for the euro area will be strengthened if member states intensify fiscal consolidation. all in all, looking ahead, gdp for the euro area is expected to grow approximately close to trend potential growth. in a context of moderate but still substantial economic growth and of inflationary pressures, which are expected to weaken over the medium run, the governing council of the ecb decided on its thursday 10 may ’ s meeting to adjust the key ecb rates by 25 basis points. more precisely, as our president wim duisenberg explained on behalf of the governing council, the decision was grounded on the following key monetary, financial and economical developments : on the monetary side, which constitutes as you may know the first pillar of the ecb monetary policy strategy, m3 growth no longer poses a risk to price stability. such a statement results from the following considerations : - m3 growth has been on a gradual downward trend since the beginning of last year, reflecting the tightening of the ecb monetary policy, which started in november 1999. in the period from february to april 2001, the three - months average of the annual growth rates of m3 adjusted for holdings by residents outside the euro area of money market fund shares was 4. 6 %, which roughly corresponds to the reference value of 4. 5 %. although credit aggregate figures remained dynamic, some slowdown has also been observed in their case. - in addition, there is now clear evidence that m3 figures are distorted upwards by non - euro area residents ’ purchases of negotiable paper included in m3. this distortion has become more sizeable recently and can roughly be estimated to around half a percentage point. all in all, information gathered from the first pillar pointed out that there were less risks to price stability over the medium - term emanating from monetary developments. as regards the second pillar of the ecb monetary policy strategy, upward risks to price stability over the medium - term