##s. this reversal of economic fortune has caused a level of pain that is hard to capture in words as lives are upended amid great uncertainty about the future. output and employment remain far below their pre - pandemic levels. the path forward for the economy is extraordinarily uncertain and will depend in large part on our success in containing the virus. a full recovery is unlikely until people are confident that it is safe to reengage in a broad range of activities. the path forward will also depend on the policy actions taken at all levels of government to provide relief and to support the recovery for as long as needed. the federal reserve ’ s response to these extraordinary developments has been guided by our mandate to promote maximum employment and stable prices for the american people as well as our role in fostering the stability of the financial system. our actions and programs directly support the flow of credit to households, to businesses of all sizes, and to state and local governments. these programs benefit main street by providing financing where it is not 1 / 5 bis central bankers'speeches otherwise available, helping employers to keep their workers, and allowing consumers to continue spending. in many cases, by serving as a backstop to key financial markets, the programs help increase the willingness of private lenders to extend credit and ease financial conditions for families and businesses across the country. the passage of the cares act by congress was critical in enabling the federal reserve and the treasury department to establish many of these lending programs. we are strongly committed to using these programs, as well as our other tools, to do what we can to provide stability, to ensure that the recovery will be as strong as possible, and to limit lasting damage to the economy. in discussing the actions we have taken, i will begin with monetary policy. in march, we lowered our policy interest rate to near zero, and we expect to maintain interest rates at this level until we are confident that the economy has weathered recent events and is on track to achieve our maximum - employment and price - stability goals. in addition to these steps, we took forceful measures in four areas : open market operations to restore market functioning ; actions to improve liquidity conditions in short - term funding markets ; programs, in coordination with the treasury department, to facilitate more directly the flow of credit to households, businesses, and state and local governments ; and measures to encourage banks to use their substantial capital and liquidity buffers built up over the past decade to support the economy during this difficult

ensure all perspectives are appropriately reflected in the code. the aim is for the full code to be published in may 2017 and we are on track to achieve that. adherence to the code alongside drafting the code, we have also been devoting considerable time and effort to thinking about how to ensure widespread adoption of the code by market participants. clearly, that has been an issue with the various existing codes that have been in place in a number of markets over many years. it is evident that they were ignored on occasion, wilfully or otherwise. one of our central aims in drafting the code is for it to be principles - based rather than rulesbased. there are a number of reasons why this is so, but for me, an important reason is that the more prescriptive the code is, the easier it is to get around. rules are easier to arbitrage than principles. if it ’ s not expressly prohibited or explicitly discouraged, then it must be okay seems to be the historical experience. moreover, the more prescriptive and the more precise the code is, the less people will think about what they are doing. if it ’ s principles - based and less prescriptive then, as i just said, market participants will have to think about whether their actions are consistent with the principles of the code. so, we are working with the industry to produce a principles - based code of conduct rather than a set of prescriptive regulatory standards. it will not impose legal or regulatory obligations on market participants, nor will it supplant existing regulatory standards or expectations. but we do expect the principles in the code to be understood and adopted across the entire fx market. our approach to adherence has a number of dimensions. we laid out our overall approach to adherence to the code in new york in may. 3 one dimension is market - based adherence mechanisms. an important element of discipline should come from the market itself and we are working closely with market participants on this. the adherence to a voluntary code will only come about if firms judge it to be in their interest and take the practical steps to ensure the code is embedded in their practices. firms will need to take practical steps such as training their staff and putting in appropriate policies and procedures. we will probably recommend widespread use of attestations by firms about their adherence to demonstrate how widely the code is followed. firms are more likely to adhere to the code if they believe that their peers are doing so too. 2 / 3 bis central