countries? b. what are the major causes of the current world imbalances? c. do imbalances impede world growth? d. what are the best ( domestic / global ) policies to mitigate the imbalances? are there any chances for ( efficient ) international cooperation? who should do what? e. how are the current changes in regulatory and supervisory frameworks influencing eu - wide imbalances? are they mitigating them or deepening them? f. can creditor countries ( such as china or germany ) act as “ locomotives of growth ” given that the juan is quasi - fixed against the us dollar and the “ german currency ” is fixed against the “ currencies ” of many trading partners in the eurozone? and what proportion of the potential fiscal impulse will merely benefit those mainly asian countries whose products are becoming more and more competitive on eu markets. bis central bankers ’ speeches

miroslav singer : the role of creditors and debtors in the world economy speech by mr miroslav singer, governor of the czech national bank, at the world banking and finance summit 2012, official monetary and financial institutions forum ( omfif ), london, 26 june 2012. * * * 1. first, let me apologize for not being an eloquent academician addressing world matters. i am a humble central banker from a small central bank in a far away country which some people know very little about. so, i fear i am not going to be a great substitute for the announced speaker. i understand that his speech was to have focused on how awful, extraordinary, and incredible it is that without german willingness to sponsor the solution to the eurozone crisis there is a strong chance that the financial crisis the eurozone faces will deepen even further. not even daring to mimic, i will just raise few points and issues. since i doubt i can add value with an analysis of pacific trade and financial flow patterns carried out from the remote distance of prague, i will ignore the global dimension of the current problems and instead focus on europe. at the end, i will try to make up for this shortcoming with questions on global issues for the other panelists to elaborate on. 2. now, let me give you a few facts about the czech republic : a. it is a net creditor country in terms of its financial sector. b. it is generally a country of small savers. the median household has more financial assets than liabilities. c. there is no significant stress in its financial sector at the moment, and none is expected by my central bank in its role of both macroprudential authority and financial market supervisor. d. we have an extremely open economy. exports and imports are roughly equal to 80 % of gdp, mostly with the eu. e. our major trading partners are the eu and germany, where there are still quite a few opportunities. 3. consequently, like all of us i have no desire to see the crisis deepen. however, before i stress a few different issues than the intended speaker, let me borrow some introductory sentences for these topics from philip coggan ’ s paper promises : debt, money, and the new world order, 2011 : “ economic history is a battle between creditors and debtors, with the nature of money the territory over which they fight. money has two core functions ; as a means of exchange ( paying for your