bill gross of pimco and george soros, among other renowned economists, have been issuing catastrophic messages about the future of the euro since the start of the crisis. don ’ t you think they should be more cautious, given that their views often have an impact on the market? one should not confuse the issue of financial stability in the euro area and the necessity to adjust fiscal policies, which are an important and pressing problem, with the euro as a currency. since its inception, the euro has kept its value remarkably. price stability has been ensured in a better fashion than with the previous national currencies. it is the currency for the euro area as a whole. and the euro area as a whole has a balanced current account and a public finance deficit much lower than many big advanced economies. such a currency, with such strong underlying fundamentals, is solid and credible. 8. do you think that spain is implementing sufficient reforms? what else can it do to restore investor confidence? spain should resolutely continue to place particular emphasis on further structural reforms in order to have the highest possible level of growth potential, to improve its productivity and to restore investor confidence. 9. most european governments have completed the process of restructuring their financial sectors, but the spanish government will still have to inject a large sum into several financial institutions at the end of september. what is your view of the situation of spain ’ s financial sector? the situation has improved considerably, but one should remain permanently alert. every month the governing council of the ecb calls upon all the banks in europe to do all that is necessary to reinforce their balance sheets, to retain earnings, to be cautious and moderate as regards remuneration and to have recourse to a public backstop, where necessary. 10. what are the challenges facing the new president, mario draghi? every central banker faces the challenge of being the guardian of the currency, and therefore an anchor of stability and confidence in a very demanding period. mario draghi needs no particular advice from me. he is a long - standing member of the ecb ’ s governing council and has been closely involved in all the decisions we have taken over the years. 11. could you give us your view of your eight years in office? do you have any regrets or is there anything that you wish you had done differently? i have not gone yet and i have a very demanding task ahead of me in the remaining month and a half. in any case,

g. the ecb were crucial in rapidly restoring confidence in the money markets and in the financial system. looking ahead, the outlook for continued growth in emerging asia in the 21 st century will probably promote the role of the renminbi. on the other hand, the still limited degree of openness in china ’ s financial markets works for now to the opposite direction. the euro ’ s international role looks set to remain relatively strong. let me underline that the ecb does not take a policy view on the global role of the euro, but we see it as a market - driven process. the euro ’ s role will essentially depend on the strength and dynamics of the euro area economy, as well as on developments in international trade. as this year, 2019, is the first centennial of his sacking from the post of austrian finance minister, it is probably appropriate to quote joseph schumpeter, one of the greatest economists of all time, who once wrote : " the condition of the monetary system of a nation is a symptom of all its conditions. " 1 1 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches what schumpeter said about a nation, goes today as well for europe and for our economic and monetary union. what happens to our money, is a reflection of the state of our union and its economy. in line with schumpeter ’ s unbeatable logic, such policies that make the euro area more robust and its growth stronger will strengthen the euro ’ s global role. the most pressing institutional reform is the completion of the banking union and creating a single capital market for investment, not least for sustainable finance. this should be supported by economic reforms in the eu member states. i also think there is a need to strengthen the external representation of the euro, as evidenced by the developments in the wake of the global financial crisis. these are, of course, issues to be solved between the european capitals, but there is a sense of urgency to make progress. 3. when posing the question “ what is new in the international monetary system? ”, we must dig deeper. during the past decade, the operating environment of central banks has changed in profound ways. the key lesson of the financial crisis is how vital financial resilience is for the real economy. financial stability, including macroprudential policy, has become the other key pillar of central banking, alongside monetary policy. the main policy implication is to develop financial regulation consistently at the global level. given