a very effective and efficient way. we therefore agreed to extend the contract by 11 months and to deepen the work in three areas. this work has now too been fully completed and we are ready to close the programme. in most of the areas covered during this time, the national bank of serbia will continue to implement work that we started together. you can, for instance, look forward to new and updated statistics for the balance of payments and for the financial accounts, which the national bank of serbia plans to start publishing in the next few years. it also has new bis central bankers ’ speeches analytical tools for both macroeconomic and financial stability analysis, allowing it to speak with a stronger voice in the national and international debate. these are only a couple of examples of what this programme has achieved. obviously the work does not end here. there are still areas within the national bank of serbia that need upgrading before it joins the european system of central banks. in addition, the eu continues to update rules, regulations and best practices, which means that the target is always moving. let me turn to a few points that are not directly linked to the programme, but are important as they relate to current challenges in the eu as well as in serbia. common challenges in the euro area and in serbia while central banks have done what they can to limit the most devastating effects of the global financial crisis, there are limits to what the central bank can do. the ecb can keep interest rates low and resort to non - standard measures as warranted by exceptional circumstances, in line with our mandate of price stability. maintaining price stability is the best contribution that a central bank can make to support economic growth and employment. we cannot, however, address by ourselves the underlying root causes of the problems that relate to fiscal and macroeconomic imbalances, a lack of competitiveness, low growth and high unemployment. governments of eu member states have to do their part of the work through structural reforms and fiscal consolidation to return the economy to long - term sustainable growth and to boost employment. while the challenges are obviously not identical, these same issues are also relevant for serbia. structural reforms to enhance competitiveness and support growth potential, fiscal consolidation and ultimately sustainable convergence are challenges to be addressed by the political authorities in this country in their endeavour to move closer to the eu. the best contribution the national bank of serbia can make to support this is to achieve price stability, based on a sound institutional framework that ensures its independence. turning back to the

background, the ecb will definitely follow - up on your request for further analysis. i do not exclude that we will conclude that there is a real case for enhancing the present framework which relies essentially on the vigilance of the financial institutions that are themselves under supervision as regards their counterparty risks on the hedge funds. but i also note that any such enhancement should be agreed upon at the level of the international community and, in particular, on the basis of an appropriate transatlantic discussion. as regards payment and settlement issues, let me first thank the european parliament for the support expressed for the implementation by november 2007 of the target2 system. being an integrated large - value payment system, target2 will provide for efficiency gains and improved liquidity management by banks. in this regard, i should like to refer to an increased pressure to also have an integrated platform for the settlement of securities transactions in euro. the eurosystem is therefore currently examining, in co - ordination with the european commission and in close co - operation with the market, the feasibility of setting up a eurosystem infrastructure for the provision of securities settlement services in central bank money. a decision on whether to offer such a service, referred to as “ target2 - securities ”, is expected in early 2007. in the field of retail payments, we strongly support the efforts to establish a single euro payment area ( sepa ). we welcome the eu commission ’ s initiative for a directive on payment services and i warmly welcome european parliament ’ s contribution to a swift adoption of this directive to assist the banking industry in their implementation of sepa payment instruments as from 1 january 2008. i thank you very much for your attention. i am now available to answer your questions.