tender in denmark until 31 may 2025 and that it's held by many honest danish citizens. we must ensure for their sake that the recall is well organised and that it's being conducted in a good way. i'm therefore very pleased with the statement from finance denmark that you will take good care of your customers, while also complying with the anti - money laundering rules. i would like to acknowledge that. i would also like to thank you for the good and constructive collaboration i've had with the financial sector during my initial period of just under a year as danmarks nationalbank governor. 5 / 6 bis - central bankers'speeches we have many important tasks ahead of us. i look forward to working with all of you. thank you for your attention. 6 / 6 bis - central bankers'speeches

european central bank has hiked its policy rate from minus 0. 5 per cent to 4 per cent since last summer. experience shows that it takes some time before higher interest rates are fully reflected in activity in society. and then some more time before the dampened demand affects inflation. therefore, the interest rate increases haven't yet been fully passed through to activity in denmark. but the banks and those who borrow money are affected by the higher interest rates. the interest rate policy pursued by the ecb – and which we implement in denmark under our fixed exchange rate policy – has suited the danish economy well. developments in recent years have illustrated how the fixed exchange rate policy contributes to stability in denmark : even when the economic waters around us are slightly rougher to navigate in. although the interest rate increases have been significant, most of us in this room remember when interest rates were even higher. this gives rise to the question : when are interest rates high? and when are they high enough? this is a very good question with which scholars in many countries are grappling at the moment. i don't have the answer. but our opinion is that higher interest rates will – sooner or later – get in - flation under control. at the same time, it's important that fiscal policy doesn't counteract the effect of higher interest rates. 2 / 6 bis - central bankers'speeches monetary policy works through, among other measures, the interest rates that customers encounter in the banks. and our analyses show that interest rate changes in the banks have occurred faster in denmark than in the euro area. the difference between the lending rate and the money market interest rate – that is the lending margin – has decreased during the past years. this reflects competition between the institutions to lend money. at the same time, we're seeing remarkably low impairment charges and losses. conversely, banks have had less need to attract deposits because depos - its have been growing over several years. the large customer funding surplus reduces the banks'incentive to raise their deposit rates. we can see that households – including those with large deposits – have so far only sought alternatives such as time deposits and bonds to a lim - ited extent. i believe it's important to remember that deposit rates are set in the mar - ket and that transparency and competition between the financial institu - tions are key elements in keeping prices in check. and that leads me to your advisory task. you are well experienced in