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ANNUAL REPORT 2008 - Polymer Bank Notes of the World

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operations; fine-tuning operations; and structural operations. As for <strong>the</strong> instruments used, reversetransactions are <strong>the</strong> main open market instrument <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Eurosystem and can be employed in allfour categories <strong>of</strong> operations. In addition, <strong>the</strong> issuance <strong>of</strong> debt certificates and outright transactionsare available for structural operations, while outright transactions, foreign exchange swaps and <strong>the</strong>collection <strong>of</strong> fixed-term deposits are available for <strong>the</strong> conduct <strong>of</strong> fine-tuning operations.Option: a financial instrument that gives <strong>the</strong> owner <strong>the</strong> right, but not <strong>the</strong> obligation, to buy or sellspecific assets (e.g. a bond or a stock) at a predetermined price (<strong>the</strong> strike or exercise price) at or upto a certain future date (<strong>the</strong> exercise or maturity date).O<strong>the</strong>r financial intermediary (OFI): a corporation or quasi-corporation (o<strong>the</strong>r than an insurancecorporation or pension fund) that is engaged mainly in financial intermediation by incurringliabilities in forms o<strong>the</strong>r than currency, deposits and/or close substitutes for deposits frominstitutional entities o<strong>the</strong>r than MFIs. OFIs include in particular corporations engaged primarily inlong-term financing (such as financial leasing), securitised asset holdings, o<strong>the</strong>r financial holdings,securities and derivatives dealing (on <strong>the</strong>ir own account), venture capital and development capital.Portfolio investment: euro area residents’ net transactions and/or positions in securities issuedby non-residents <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> euro area (“assets”) and non-residents’ net transactions and/or positionsin securities issued by euro area residents (“liabilities”). Included are equity securities and debtsecurities (bonds and notes, and money market instruments), excluding amounts recorded indirect investment or reserve assets.Price stability: <strong>the</strong> maintenance <strong>of</strong> price stability is <strong>the</strong> primary objective <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Eurosystem. TheGoverning Council defines price stability as a year-on-year increase in <strong>the</strong> Harmonised Index <strong>of</strong>Consumer Prices for <strong>the</strong> euro area <strong>of</strong> below 2%. The Governing Council has also made it clearthat, in <strong>the</strong> pursuit <strong>of</strong> price stability, it aims to maintain inflation rates below, but close to, 2% over<strong>the</strong> medium term.Primary balance: government net borrowing or net lending excluding interest payments onconsolidated government liabilities.Projections: <strong>the</strong> results <strong>of</strong> exercises conducted four times a year to project possible futuremacroeconomic developments in <strong>the</strong> euro area. Eurosystem staff projections are published in Juneand December, whereas European Central <strong>Bank</strong> (ECB) staff projections are published in Marchand September. They form part <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> economic analysis pillar <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> monetary policy strategy <strong>of</strong><strong>the</strong> ECB and are thus one <strong>of</strong> several inputs into <strong>the</strong> Governing Council’s assessment <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> risks toprice stability.Real-time gross settlement (RTGS) system: a settlement system in which processing andsettlement take place on an order-by-order basis (without netting) in real time (continuously) (seealso TARGET).Reference value for M3 growth: <strong>the</strong> annual growth rate <strong>of</strong> M3 over <strong>the</strong> medium term that isconsistent with <strong>the</strong> maintenance <strong>of</strong> price stability. At present, <strong>the</strong> reference value for annual M3growth is 4½%.Repurchase agreement: a contract to sell and subsequently repurchase securities on a specifieddate and at a specified price. Also called a “repo”.282 ECBAnnual Report<strong>2008</strong>

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