mr hartmann reflects on recent developments in international payment systems speech delivered by mr wendelin hartmann, member of the directorate of the deutsche bundesbank and chairman of the committee on payment and settlement systems of the g10 central banks, at the conference of the belgian financial forum celebrating 25 years of the belgian automated clearing house - cec ( concluding session ), held at the national bank of belgium, brussels, on 23 november 1999. * * * ladies and gentlemen, the belgium clearing house cec ( centre for exchange and clearing ) is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, and today ’ s speeches have shown that it can justifiably be called a success story. the early standardisation and centralisation of retail payments in belgium offers many advantages from the point of view of cost and efficiency and might well act as a model for solving the many different problems in cross - border payments in europe. as the representative of a central bank of a country with a much less centralised payment settlement, albeit with a high degree of standardisation, i am, of course, able to envisage other solutions as well. it is probably no exaggeration to say that today ’ s conference has fully met its objective. it has given all those involved in european retail payments - the financial industry as the service provider as well as the users and regulators - the opportunity of presenting their different standpoints, thus offering a platform for a very interesting and constructive exchange of views. considering the current developments in international payments highlighted by preceding speakers i would like to conclude that cross - border retail payments - including those in the euro area, in particular - are still in need of considerable improvement in terms of quality, efficiency and prices. the aim must be a dramatic reduction of the existing marked differences between domestic and cross - border payment services and their complete elimination in the longer term, so that the motto of this conference, “ one eurozone for retail payments ”, can become a reality. eu directive on cross - border payments the fact that the european parliament and council directive on cross - border payments has now been implemented in almost all the eu member states means that a major step towards greater transparency and a better service level has already been taken. however, this measure alone will not be sufficient to meet the requirements of an efficient single market and the expectations of european consumers. given a single currency and the use of electronic transmission media, the general public naturally does not understand why a credit transfer from brussels to frankfurt should be several times

functioning financial system and the gradual improvements in financial conditions in canada next year ; • the past depreciation of the canadian dollar ; • stimulative fiscal policy measures ; • the rebound in external demand in 2010, particularly in emerging markets, and the associated firming of commodity prices ; • the strengths of canadian household, business, and bank balance sheets ; and • the end of the stock adjustments in canadian and u. s. residential housing. a wider output gap and modest decreases in housing prices should cause core cpi inflation to ease through 2009, bottoming out at 1. 1 per cent in the fourth quarter. total cpi inflation is expected to dip below zero for two quarters in 2009, reflecting year - on - year drops in energy prices. the bank views the possibility of deflation in canada as remote. indeed, with inflation expectations well anchored, total and core inflation should return to the 2 per cent target in the first half of 2011 as the economy moves back to its production potential. of course, global developments pose significant upside and downside risks to the inflation projection. the bank judges that these risks are roughly balanced. uncertainty and the need for policy action as i noted at the outset, in the current environment the bank's projections – and those of all forecasters – are subject to an unusually high degree of uncertainty. as we have consistently emphasized, stabilization of the global financial system is a precondition for economic recovery globally and in canada. to that end, throughout the world, policy - makers have acted aggressively and creatively. central banks have provided unprecedented liquidity to keep the financial system functioning. last october, extraordinary steps were taken by all g - 7 countries to prevent systemic collapse and to promote the effective functioning of money and credit markets. the task is far from complete. decisions taken in the coming weeks in the united states and in other major economies to isolate toxic assets in order to create a core of " good " banks will be critical. in addition, g - 20 countries need to act in concert to improve domestic and international regulatory frameworks. in this regard, measures to improve transparency and integrity, to implement a macro - prudential approach to regulation, and to adequately resource the imf are vital. if these national and multilateral measures are not timely, bold, and well - executed, canada's economic recovery will be both attenuated and delayed. the reality is that the financial crisis and subsequent recession originated beyond our borders and the necessary triggers for a