. in crisis times, rapid implementation is crucial. as concerns global governance, i insist on the absolute necessity to reinforce macroeconomic policy surveillance of systematically important countries and economies. the imf has to play a fundamental role in such monitoring, coupled with responsible and active peer surveillance. finally, central banks have a fundamental role in ensuring monetary and financial stability from a long - term perspective. the world economy can count on central banks to continue to act as anchors of stability, which are more needed than ever. the european central bank, for its part, will continue to be an anchor of stability and confidence. thank you for your attention.

, the weaknesses were exposed and investors suddenly lost confidence. after years of exceptional risk appetite and high profits, the pendulum swung in the opposite direction, as markets became extremely sensitive to financial risk. in september last year, the crisis escalated sharply, turning a large - scale crisis of confidence into a global financial panic. financial intermediaries restored liquidity buffers, tried to economise on capital and to scale down their balance sheets. they sold assets and tightened lending conditions. banks and other financial institutions drastically reduced their exposure to the risks that they had imprudently accumulated during the phase of financial euphoria. financial intermediation and loans to companies were curtailed in the wake of a forceful process of “ deleveraging ”. this was the point when important spillovers of the financial crisis set in. we saw the almost immediate spillover from the financial sector to the real economy. the credit squeeze and loss of confidence started to take a toll on the real economy, and a negative feedback developed between the financial sector and the real economy, and has since become a major feature of economic and financial developments. almost simultaneously, the crisis that originated in the advanced economies spilled over to the emerging market economies. since the fourth quarter of 2008, virtually all economies – both those of the industrialised countries and the emerging markets – have faced synchronised business cycles in many parts of the world. the ecb ’ s response to the financial crisis since the start of the financial turmoil, central banks around the globe face unprecedented challenges. we at the ecb and other central banks have reacted swiftly, flexibly and decisively. the ecb took the lead with some exceptional decisions as early as 9 august 2007. we have, since then, modified our operational framework and used an exceptional set of non - standard policy tools. these tools, combined with the bold action taken by euro area governments over recent months, have played an essential role in preventing a collapse of the financial system and in bolstering confidence. i would like to emphasise that despite this upheaval and our exceptional measures, our objective remains unchanged : to preserve price stability over the medium term, and that ’ s what guides our policy. in so doing, we support the conditions for financial and economic stability. the crisis has not changed this objective. interest rates as regards interest rates, the ecb ’ s governing council has reacted promptly and decisively to the intensification and broadening of the global financial turbulence. we have