have seen the deposits by the euro area money - holding sector increasing by about 200 billion euros since august 2012. another sign of normalisation, and a very important one for german savers, has been the increase in german government bond yields, previously suppressed by panic - driven safehaven flows, which have edged up by around 25 basis points. and target balances, which are a summary indicator of fragmentation, have declined by 285 billion euros, or 25 %, since the peak last year, and now are at the same level as in late - 2011. therefore, also perceived risks for creditor countries such as germany have greatly diminished. the establishment of omt has therefore been beneficial to everybody : sovereigns, corporations, banks as well as individuals, and it has benefited both periphery and core countries. bis central bankers ’ speeches the decision on omt was necessary. it was effective. and it was in line with our mandate. it was necessary to remove severe obstacles to the appropriate transmission of monetary policy that were putting the singleness of our monetary policy at risk and which were harming the economy of the euro area very deeply. and it is fully in line with our mandate because it is designed to preserve price stability for the euro area and uses instruments foreseen in the statute. in short, for the ecb responsible leadership has meant being true to our founding treaty. staying independent from the voices calling for us to “ do more ” or to “ do less ” ; staying fully focused on our mandate to secure price stability for the citizens of the euro area. for the euro area to now move forward and establish itself on stronger ground, we need all decision - makers to take their responsibilities. governments to put right their public finances and address the structural challenges to growth in their economies ; and the euro area as a whole to build a stronger economic and monetary union based on shared sovereignty and greater legitimacy. there is a great deal of work ahead of us. but i am sure we will succeed. thank you for your attention. bis central bankers ’ speeches

the link between sovereign risk and bank risk. this is a very important step towards enhanced competitiveness, given that it will make it possible for identical firms in terms of profitability and risks to have similar financing conditions, regardless of their geographical location. moreover, structural reforms should be implemented that induce potential output growth across europe ( e. g. output market deregulation and tax system reforms ). in sum : for a successful adjustment of the portuguese economy and to ensure its prosperity within the monetary union, certain domestic and external conditions must be established. by proving that domestic conditions are in place, external conditions will ensue and be strengthened. in terms of domestic conditions, social cohesion must be ensured and consensus among social partners, as well as a broad consensus between political players, must be reached. the necessary political consensus does not concern policies to be implemented but only the limits and constraints to their definition and implementation ( as i have said on other occasions, although we may have different opinions on how to decorate the living room, we must admit that the living room walls are our limit and our constraint ; in terms of economic policy, the walls in the exercise correspond to the external constraints placed on any given country ). thank you very much. bis central bankers ’ speeches