To31 December 2007From1 January <strong>2008</strong> 1€ €Nationale <strong>Bank</strong>van België/BanqueNationale de Belgique 1,423,341,996 1,423,341,996Deutsche Bundesbank 11,821,492,402 11,821,492,402Central <strong>Bank</strong> andFinancial ServicesAuthority <strong>of</strong> Ireland 511,833,966 511,833,966<strong>Bank</strong> <strong>of</strong> Greece 1,046,595,329 1,046,595,329Banco de España 4,349,177,351 4,349,177,351Banque de France 8,288,138,644 8,288,138,644Banca d’Italia 7,217,924,641 7,217,924,641Central <strong>Bank</strong> <strong>of</strong> Cyprus - 71,950,549Banque centrale duLuxembourg 90,730,275 90,730,275Central <strong>Bank</strong> <strong>of</strong> Malta - 35,831,258De Nederlandsche <strong>Bank</strong> 2,243,025,226 2,243,025,226OesterreichischeNationalbank 1,161,289,918 1,161,289,918Banco de Portugal 987,203,002 987,203,002<strong>Bank</strong>a Slovenije 183,995,238 183,995,238Suomen Pankki –Finlands <strong>Bank</strong> 717,086,011 717,086,011Total 40,041,833,998 40,149,615,8051) Individual amounts are shown rounded to <strong>the</strong> nearest euro. Thecomponents may not add up to <strong>the</strong> total due to rounding.The claims <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Central <strong>Bank</strong> <strong>of</strong> Cyprusand <strong>the</strong> Central <strong>Bank</strong> <strong>of</strong> Malta were set at€71,950,549 and €35,831,258 respectively inorder to ensure that <strong>the</strong> ratio between <strong>the</strong>seclaims and <strong>the</strong> aggregate claim credited to <strong>the</strong>o<strong>the</strong>r NCBs that have adopted <strong>the</strong> euro willbe equal to <strong>the</strong> ratio between <strong>the</strong> weightings<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Central <strong>Bank</strong> <strong>of</strong> Cyprus and <strong>the</strong> Central<strong>Bank</strong> <strong>of</strong> Malta in <strong>the</strong> ECB’s capital key and<strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r participating NCBs’ aggregateweighting in this key. The difference between<strong>the</strong> claim and <strong>the</strong> value <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> assets transferred(see note 1, “Gold and gold receivables”, andnote 2, “Claims on non-euro area and euro arearesidents denominated in foreign currency”)was treated as part <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> contributions <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>Central <strong>Bank</strong> <strong>of</strong> Cyprus and <strong>the</strong> Central <strong>Bank</strong><strong>of</strong> Malta, due under Article 49.2 <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Statute<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> ESCB, to <strong>the</strong> reserves and provisionsequivalent to reserves <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> ECB existing as at31 December 2007 (see note 13, “Provisions”,and note 14, “Revaluation accounts”).12 OTHER LIABILITIESOFF-BALANCE-SHEET INSTRUMENTS REVALUATIONDIFFERENCESThis item is composed mainly <strong>of</strong> valuationchanges in swap and forward transactions inforeign currency that were outstanding on31 December <strong>2008</strong> (see note 20, “Foreignexchange swap and forward transactions”).These valuation changes are <strong>the</strong> result <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>conversion <strong>of</strong> such transactions into <strong>the</strong>ir euroequivalents at <strong>the</strong> exchange rates prevailingon <strong>the</strong> Balance Sheet date, compared with <strong>the</strong>euro values resulting from <strong>the</strong> conversion <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>transactions at <strong>the</strong> average cost <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> respectiveforeign currency (see “Gold and foreign currencyassets and liabilities” in <strong>the</strong> notes on accountingpolicies and also note 6, “O<strong>the</strong>r assets”).Valuation losses on interest rate swaps are alsoincluded in this item.ACCRUALS AND INCOME COLLECTED IN ADVANCEThis item consists mainly <strong>of</strong> interest payableto <strong>the</strong> NCBs in respect <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir claims relatingto <strong>the</strong> foreign reserves transferred (see note 11,“Intra-Eurosystem liabilities”), amounting to€1.4 billion. It also includes accruals onbalances due to NCBs in respect <strong>of</strong> TARGET2,accruals on financial instruments (see alsonote 2, “Claims on non-euro area and euro arearesidents denominated in foreign currency”, andnote 6, “O<strong>the</strong>r assets”) and o<strong>the</strong>r accruals.SUNDRYThis item consists mainly <strong>of</strong> negative balancesrelated to swap and forward transactions inforeign currency that were outstanding on31 December <strong>2008</strong> (see note 20, “Foreignexchange swap and forward transactions”).These balances arise from <strong>the</strong> conversion <strong>of</strong>such transactions into <strong>the</strong>ir euro equivalents at<strong>the</strong> respective currency’s average cost on <strong>the</strong>Balance Sheet date, compared with <strong>the</strong> euroECBAnnual Report<strong>2008</strong>229
values at which <strong>the</strong> transactions were initiallyrecorded (see “Off-balance-sheet instruments”in <strong>the</strong> notes on accounting policies).This item also includes outstanding repurchasetransactions <strong>of</strong> €337.6 million conducted inconnection with <strong>the</strong> management <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> ECB’sown funds (see note 6, “O<strong>the</strong>r assets”) and <strong>the</strong>net liability in respect <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> ECB’s pensionobligations as described below.THE ECB’S RETIREMENT PLAN AND OTHERPOST-EMPLOYMENT BENEFITSThe amounts recognised in <strong>the</strong> Balance Sheetin respect <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> ECB’s pension obligations(see “The ECB’s retirement plan and o<strong>the</strong>rpost-employment benefits” in <strong>the</strong> notes onaccounting policies) are as follows:<strong>2008</strong> 2007€ millions € millionsPresent value <strong>of</strong> obligations 317.0 285.8Fair value <strong>of</strong> plan assets (226.7) (229.8)Unrecognised actuarialgains/(losses) 7.6 35.4Liability recognised in <strong>the</strong>Balance Sheet 97.9 91.4The present value <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> obligations includesunfunded obligations <strong>of</strong> €42.3 million (2007:€36.8 million) relating to <strong>the</strong> pensions <strong>of</strong>Executive Board members and to staff disabilityprovisions.The amounts recognised in <strong>the</strong> Pr<strong>of</strong>it andLoss Account in <strong>2008</strong> and 2007 in respect <strong>of</strong>“Current service cost”, “Interest on obligation”,“Expected return on plan assets” and “Netactuarial (gains)/losses recognised in <strong>the</strong> year”are as follows:<strong>2008</strong>€ millions2007€ millionsCurrent service cost 24.7 26.5Interest on obligation 10.7 8.6Expected return on plan assets (10.0) (7.9)Net actuarial (gains)/lossesrecognised in <strong>the</strong> year (1.1) 0Under <strong>the</strong> “10% corridor” approach (see “TheECB’s retirement plan and o<strong>the</strong>r postemploymentbenefits” in <strong>the</strong> notes on accountingpolicies), net cumulative unrecognised actuarialgains exceeding <strong>the</strong> greater <strong>of</strong> (a) 10% <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>present value <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> defined benefit obligationand (b) 10% <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> fair value <strong>of</strong> plan assets, areamortised over <strong>the</strong> expected average remainingworking lives <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> participating employees.Changes in <strong>the</strong> present value <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> definedbenefit obligation are as follows:<strong>2008</strong>€ millions2007€ millionsOpening defined benefitobligation 285.8 258.5Service cost 24.7 26.5Interest cost 10.7 8.6Contributions paid by planparticipants 17.9 14.2O<strong>the</strong>r net changes in liabilitiesrepresenting plan participants’contributions (12.3) 2.5Benefits paid (3.8) (2.5)Actuarial (gains)/losses (6.0) (22.0)Closing defined benefitobligation 317.0 285.8Changes in <strong>the</strong> fair value <strong>of</strong> plan assets are asfollows:<strong>2008</strong>€ millions2007€ millionsOpening fair value <strong>of</strong> plan assets 229.8 195.3Expected return 10.0 7.9Actuarial gains/(losses) (32.7) (4.0)Contributions paid by employer 17.5 16.2Contributions paid by planparticipants 17.8 14.1Benefits paid (3.4) (2.2)O<strong>the</strong>r net changes in assetsrepresenting plan participants’contributions (12.3) 2.5Closing fair value <strong>of</strong> plan assets 226.7 229.8In preparing <strong>the</strong> valuations referred to in thisnote, <strong>the</strong> actuaries have used assumptionswhich <strong>the</strong> Executive Board has accepted for <strong>the</strong>purposes <strong>of</strong> accounting and disclosure.Total included in “Staff costs” 24.3 27.2230 ECBAnnual Report<strong>2008</strong>
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EN2008EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK ANNUAL
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© European Central Bank, 2009Addre
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CHAPTER 4FINANCIAL STABILITY AND IN
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7 Statistical accounting consequenc
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ABBREVIATIONSCOUNTRIESOTHERSBE Belg
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in the course of the year, in line
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currencies, T2S will be a major ste
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CHAPTER 1ECONOMICDEVELOPMENTS ANDMO
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Chart 1 ECB interest rates and mone
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Despite moderating, the annual grow
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substantial downward revisions in r
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in July, annual inflation in the OE
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As regards the Chinese economy, rea
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generally tighter financing conditi
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were recorded in December, but thes
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was driven mainly by developments i
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market tensions, particularly for l
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anking and financial system. At the
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cash flows to compensate for a redu
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quarter of 2008 and -0.1% in Decemb
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whereby investors’ uncertainty su
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September onwards, amid the great u
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Chart C Trading volumes for governm
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sponsored rescue plans were initiat
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The annual growth rate of consumer
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end of 2007. By December 2008 this
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calculated as the balance between g
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commodity prices (see Box 4). Conve
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Chart D Longer-term inflation expec
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apidly to 1.7% in December, mainly
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productivity slowed to 0.2% in the
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Table 3 Composition of real GDP gro
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Corporate investment, which had exp
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Box 5LABOUR MARKET DEVELOPMENTS IN
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Chart C Breakdown of employment gro
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Box 6DEVELOPMENTS IN THE ISSUANCE A
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Chart B Government bond yield sprea
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Box 7STATISTICAL ACCOUNTING CONSEQU
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warranted because of the need to co
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sharp depreciation of the euro was
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prices in the first eight months of
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focused more on the production rath
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segments and, in turn, affected eur
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and Bulgaria registered robust grow
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In the remaining non-euro area EU c
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Estonian kroon and the Lithuanian l
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Table 10 Official monetary policy s
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the Bank of England and Sveriges Ri
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CHAPTER 2CENTRAL BANKOPERATIONSAND
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Box 10MONETARY POLICY OPERATIONS DU
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Chart A Liquidity supply through op
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franc funding needs of banks with n
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MINIMUM RESERVE SYSTEMCredit instit
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with the ample allotments in the fi
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2008. By contrast, the average shar
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and SDR holdings increased by aroun
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and the ECB). As a result of carefu
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cross-CSD settlement. T2S will thus
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ELIGIBLE LINKS BETWEEN NATIONAL SEC
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Chart 48 Number of euro banknotes i
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3.3 BANKNOTE PRODUCTION AND ISSUANC
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4 STATISTICSThe ECB, assisted by th
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iii) payments statistics and iv) de
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5 ECONOMIC RESEARCHThe main functio
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were organised to disseminate resea
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the Financial Collateral Directive,
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on the Banque centrale du Luxembour
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standards by individual Eurosystem
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CHAPTER 3ENTRY OF SLOVAKIAINTO THE
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Table 13 Main economic indicators f
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As of January 2009 Slovakia is thus
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3 OPERATIONAL ASPECTS OF THE INTEGR
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4 THE CASH CHANGEOVER IN SLOVAKIATH
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Willem F. Duisenberg accepting the
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1 FINANCIAL STABILITYThe Eurosystem
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With regard to merger and acquisiti
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with the principles set out in Octo
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2.2 BANKINGCAPITAL REQUIREMENTS DIR
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3 FINANCIAL INTEGRATIONThe Eurosyst
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The market for short-term paper in
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de France and the Banca d’Italia.
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and the Eurosystem’s business con
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4.2 RETAIL PAYMENT SYSTEMS ANDINSTR
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for Clearing and Settlement, and th
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Willem F. Duisenberg at his farewel
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1 EUROPEAN ISSUESIn 2008 the ECB co
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for financial institutions, to faci
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1.3 DEVELOPMENTS IN AND RELATIONS W
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Financial stability: condition in w
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MFIs (monetary financial institutio
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Reserve base: the sum of the eligib