stefan gerlach : monetary policy after the crisis address by mr stefan gerlach, deputy governor of the central bank of ireland, at the 44th annual money, macro and finance conference, trinity college, dublin, 8 september 2012. * * * the views expressed in this address are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the central bank of ireland or the escb. i am grateful to colin bermingham, leon fernandez brennan, lars frisell, rebecca stuart and, in particular, allen monks for help in preparing these remarks. 1. introduction in recent years, in particular following the collapse of lehman brothers in september 2008, central banks across the world have adopted a very expansionary monetary policy stance. in most economies, the main factor triggering the relaxation of policy has been the very weak outlook for economic activity stemming from a combination of balance sheet adjustments following housing bubbles, financial markets seizing up, banks facing funding difficulties, firms and households experiencing challenging borrowing conditions, and severe strains in some sovereign debt markets. the relaxation took two forms. first, central banks responded to the crisis by cutting policy rates to an unprecedented extent and by adopting a range of “ unconventional ” or “ non - standard ” policy measures. these initially focussed on providing liquidity to financial institutions and systemically important markets but, over time as traditional monetary policy became constrained by the “ zero lower bound ”, central banks also aimed to reduce longerterm interest rates to support the economy. 1 to illustrate, the ecb responded by increasing the size, frequency and maturity of its liquidity - providing operations and later intervened in the markets for covered and sovereign bonds. the federal reserve and the bank of england also engaged in purchases of private and public financial assets. the federal reserve also adopted a forward guidance policy, providing additional information to market participants about the expected path of its policy rate, and explicitly targeted the level of the yield curve through large - scale asset purchases with the intent of shifting down the entire term structure of interest rates. 2 at some future date economic conditions in the economies most exposed to the financial crisis will recover and central banks will need to tighten monetary conditions. while there is still a debate on the question of how the exit from the current highly accommodative policy stance is best conducted, here i will focus on what monetary policy might look like after the process of normalising policy has been started. to reflect on these changes, it is useful to briefly consider the pre - crisis approach

john hurley : economic developments in ireland and other issues opening statement by mr john hurley, governor of the central bank and financial services authority of ireland, at the presentation of the annual report 2003, dublin, 12 july 2004. * * * i would like to welcome you all to the publication of the bank ’ s annual report for 2003. as you know, 2003 was a very significant year for us. we have been through a major restructuring process, which has seen the establishment of a new financial regulatory system. the irish financial services regulatory authority is now responsible for consumer protection and prudential supervision while the central bank deals with all matters relating to financial stability. i am happy to report that these new arrangements, which are in place for over a year now, are working very well. this restructuring has allowed us to take stock. as a result, we are also today publishing a three - year strategic plan for the central bank and financial services authority of ireland. a further important development will be the publication of a stand - alone financial stability report in mid - september. up to now, this was included in the bank ’ s annual report. i would also draw your attention to the reproduction in this report of the first lecture in the whitaker lecture series. this series has been established in honour of the former governor, dr. t. k. whitaker, and is intended to contribute to general economic debate in ireland. the inaugural lecture was given by the president of the european central bank, jean claude trichet. the report also includes an article on foreign direct investment in ireland, a vital component of our recent economic success. the study highlights the principal reasons for our success in this area : a stable macroeconomic background, a favourable business environment in its many aspects and a strong emphasis on education and skills. looking to the future, we need to ensure that we have the appropriate policies in place to continue to be an attractive location for foreign direct investment. economic developments turning now to the economic situation : in the context of a weak, if improving, international environment, the irish economy performed well, relative to other countries, in 2003. the latest official data put gnp growth at 2. 8 per cent ( gdp, 3. 7 per cent ). there was significant employment growth last year, which contributed to keeping unemployment at a low level - currently 4. 4 per cent. for 2004, ireland ’ s growth prospects appear generally good - particularly as the us and east asia economies improve. however, considerable uncertainties remain