bank system at an appropriate level. as you will see in graph 3, the average level of bank sight deposits changed very little throughout the year, if we compare each minimum reserve period with the next. our other operational processes have also stood up well in the turmoil of the past few months. payment transactions carried out between banks in the sic system ran smoothly at all times, although banks have made greater use of snb intraday loan facilities. in order to bridge liquidity bottlenecks at the end of the day, the national bank provides a liquidityshortage financing facility to banks. this allows them to obtain liquidity on a temporary basis when needed, provided they have a limit with the snb and provided this limit is continually covered with eligible securities. the continual coverage of the limits ensures that the banks have access to a liquidity cushion, even in critical situations. actual use of the limits is generally restrained, and this has also been the case in recent months. lessons learnt i would like to draw your attention to some of the lessons that we have already learnt from the current crisis. i will mention four points. first, the worldwide money market upheaval clearly shows how highly integrated international financial markets are today. local crises can spread around the globe in a flash. the money market crisis is unlikely to have been overcome yet. confidence among financial market participants remains insufficient. the pressure on participants who are still only able to refinance themselves in the market on a very short - term basis remains high. as long as uncertainty with respect to the scope of the credit problems exists, the disruptions on the money market are likely to persist. second, the central banks have played a fundamental role in calming and stabilising the money markets through close consultation and targeted operations. the snb reacted rapidly to the tensions in the swiss franc money market. the flexibility of our monetary policy instruments demonstrated its value in this difficult setting. above all, short - term interest rates calmed as a result of the measures taken. the difficulties in bank refinancing over longer terms and the rise in risk premiums in the money market came about through the loss of confidence. central banks can not compensate this lack of confidence simply by injecting additional liquidity. on the contrary, the financial market participants themselves must take the fundamental steps needed to restore this confidence. third, the crisis in the money market once again clearly demonstrates that liquidity management is a core task of each and every bank, falling

within the direct accountability of bank executive management. liquidity provisioning must begin in good times. it is critical that sufficient liquid assets be held. only first - class securities are suitable for this purpose. these can be sold in the markets or mobilised via repo transactions, even in difficult conditions. in an acute crisis situation, the availability of sufficient liquidity, together with a strong equity position, is absolutely crucial. fourth and finally, i would like to mention that, in the swiss franc money market, repo business via the swiss value chain has proved to be a crisis - resistant source of liquidity, thanks to the consistent minimisation of risks. the repo market allows participants to undertake rapid refinancing in the interbank market, independent of credit limits, thereby making a major contribution to the stability of the financial system. that is why it is important for the snb that all swiss and foreign banks operating in the swiss franc money market join the swiss repo system.