##r ’ s debt. and it is done for monetary policy purposes. if you take all this into account you will see there is not that problem to this respect. the programme bolsters the creation of a bubble. investors are forced to buy stocks, since bonds become all to expensive due to the ecb. liikanen : that ’ s a fair point. we must monitor the side effects including in the real estate market. in member countries macroprudential tools are in place to combat these risks. will the 1, 1 trillion programme do the job and bring back growth and inflation? liikanen : the programme is scheduled until september 2016. then we look at the situation. if inflation has not reached the target of close to 2 percent, we will continue our efforts to reach our target. what do think about the growing power of central banks who seem to rule the world economy? liikanen : i think we would be happy to do less in the future, but it was important that we acted in the crisis, we ensured sufficient liquidity in the market and we cut interest rates. that was the lesson learned from the depression of the 1930ties. the german saver wants higher interest rates. liikanen : well, that is going to take some time. all savers will also benefit from the recovery in the euro area. stability of the economy is good for all. we have seen how the situation for example in spain, ireland and portugal has improved, we have better budget rules, we have a single supervisory mechanism in europe – all that is good for all in europe, germany as well. when will the ecb exit and drop their emergency measures? liikanen : i am a marathon runner. we must keep cool and moving and finish the job. when the time comes, we decide about the exit on the basis of the analysis based on our strategy. bis central bankers ’ speeches

for price stability were so high that we needed to act. have jens weidmann and sabine lautenschlager been all too relentless in their criticism? liikanen : no, it ’ s been professional. nobody can claim for not having been heard in the governing council. history will tell whether our timing was right. i hope the economy in the euro area will turn for the better. the germans admire the bundesbank. the blueprint in the creation of the ecb was meant to be the bundesbank – now there seems to be not much left of it. liikanen : i admire the bundesbank too. we all learned the value of monetary policy independence by studying the history of the bundesbank. that is what the ecb fights for. the spirit is there. when inflation rates were too high, i have been one of the first to support higher interest rates. but if interest rates are close to zero, and we have protracted low inflation and deflationary risks, that requires early action. you have to act while you can. bis central bankers ’ speeches the bundesbank thinks the ecb is going too far. liikanen : there is a new question for central bankers : if our inflation is too low should you react with the same vigor as when it is too high? should you? liikanen : i am a hawk in both directions, fighting inflation and preventing deflation. there are people who say zero inflation is fine. i think zero inflation makes the economy vulnerable without any buffers. the ecb objective of below but close to 2 percent in the medium term is safer. we haven ’ t had this kind of a problem before, in the postwar period. rather, inflation was the problem, and the bundesbank has a great record there. now we talk about the prospect of too low inflation for too long. we have to go far back in history to the 1930 ’ s to understand the dangers of deflation. you would not believe how often the history books are being quoted among central bankers in various discussions. but buying government bonds always has the odor of financing government deficits? don ’ t you agree? liikanen : no, not when we are doing it the way we decided to do it. we only buy bonds on the secondary market, we buy according to the capital keys of the eurosystem members, we buy maximum 25 percent of each issuance and maximum 33 percent of each issue