and the unique communication challenges in a multi - country monetary union. once the decision is taken to publish accounts, it is natural to change the frequency of monetary policy meetings to six - week. this will give space for producing the accounts and yet not create confusion with regards to following meeting and any action that might be taken. bis central bankers ’ speeches conclusion while many uncertainties remain, actions taken during the last two months show that the eurosystem is flexible, responsive, and, as we have said many times, ready to take any actions that may prove necessary should downside risks further materialise. bis central bankers ’ speeches

christian noyer : challenging times for finance and banking in europe keynote address by mr christian noyer, governor of the bank of france and chairman of the board of directors of the bank for international settlements, at the paris europlace international financial forum, paris, 8 july 2014. * * * ladies and gentlemen, dear arnaud, i am pleased to be able to give this keynote address today for our paris europlace international financial forum, before the round tables begin. these are challenging times for economic policy - makers, central bankers and professionals working in the field of finance and banking in europe i will address three questions : is the euro crisis over? does europe face the prospect of a lost decade? what short - term policy challenges are we facing today? and i will finally say a few words about recent changes in our communication strategy. i. is the euro crisis over? less than two years ago, the euro area was fighting for its existence. euro pessimists were questioning its ability to survive. not anymore. analysts may be questioning europe ’ s ability to grow. but the challenges that we are facing are different. they are macroeconomic, not existential or systemic. thanks, mainly, to the eurosystem ’ s actions, financial conditions are normalising. spreads in peripheral countries have been dramatically reduced. soon, budgets will be reasonably balanced and there will be no more fiscal drag on the economy. households and corporates have strong balance sheets. recent forecasts put german growth at more than 2 %, italy in positive territory, and the outlook for france has improved markedly. growth of business activity in the euro area in april was the highest in the past three years. but the crisis has left an important legacy : money and financial markets remain excessively segmented. the monetary transmission mechanism is severely impaired and credit conditions are still very different across countries and sectors. deleveraging in the banking sector still acts as an impediment to recovery and growth. bank credit remains flat in the euro area as a whole, and smes ’ financing is a major concern, especially in stressed countries, where the percentage of financially constrained but viable borrowers is estimated at 25 % vs 1 % in “ core ” countries. we are very aware that balance sheet repair is a prerequisite for credit to resume and for monetary policy to be efficient. so, we are addressing the problem as a priority. 1. we are building a safer and more robust system of financial intermediation