6. Summarise the text, using the words and phrases given below:

To prove the most popular currency in the international bond markets; to launch bonds; to pip the US dollar; to establish a benchmark in the euro for public relations purposes; to step up the purchase of euro-denominated securities; to increase borrowing costs; to tap the euro.

7. Translate into English:

1. Объем еврооблигаций, выпущенных американскими компаниями, намного превосходит количество таких облигаций, эмитированных в Европе.

2. Данная ситуация в некоторой степени определяется уровнем процентных ставок в еврозоне, где американские компании имеют возможность осуществлять займы в евро под меньший процент.

3. Причина роста популярности евро заключается в том, что новая валюта позволит многим инвесторам диверсифицировать свои вложения, не ограничиваясь государственными ценными бумагами.

8. Work in several groups. Supply details to support the following statement: "euro proves top currency"

9. Explain the meaning of the following statement:

There is a connection between the weakness of the euro and its popularity among borrowers - namely, low interest rates.

10. Dwell upon the current performance of the euro

11. Meet as one group. One of you should lead the meeting. Decide how the euro problem can be solved

Text 4 The ecb’s Credibility

Take the claim that the ECB's monetary-policy strategy is confusing. It has, in effect, two targets: one for inflation and another for money-supply growth. What if money and inflation move in different directions? But at least the ECB has a clearly defined mandate of price stability. The Fed does not have an inflation target at all. So the basis of the Fed's interest-rate decisions is far from clear.

What of the second charge, that the ECB's decision-making is opaque? It is true that the ECB does not publish minutes of its policy meetings; the Fed, in contrast, releases summary minutes about six weeks later. But the monthly press conferences, at which Wim Duisenberg, the ECB's president, explains policy decisions, come close to providing an instant summary. Arguably, this is better than releasing carefully edited minutes weeks later.

The Fed never holds press conferences after interest-rate changes and, unlike Mr. Duisenberg, Alan Greenspan, its chairman, never gives on-the-record interviews. To make things even less clear, Mr. Greenspan has turned the language of central banking into an art form. "I know you believe you understand what you think I said, but I am not sure you realise that what you heard is not what I meant," he told some Wall Street economists a few years ago.

The third main accusation is that the ECB's policy board is disunited. Yet since monetary policy is an inexact science, such divisions are perfectly healthy. The Fed is equally divided. Only the dominance of Mr. Greenspan has prevented a revolt by Fed associates who have been uncomfortable with the recent looseness of monetary policy. Two notable hawks are Larry Meyer, a Fed governor, and Jerry Jordan, president of the Cleveland district Fed. In speeches and articles, both have given the impression that they think interest rates should have been increased more rapidly.

In the end the ECB and the Fed will be judged by their ability to keep inflation under control. On current evidence the ECB is doing the better job. In the 12 months to March, consumer prices in the euro area rose by 2.1%, just breaching the ECB's medium-term goal of 2%. But the core rate of inflation (excluding oil and food) was only 1.1%. In contrast, American inflation jumped to 3.7%; even core inflation is running at 2.4%. First-quarter figures, which showed an alarming jump in labour costs and annual growth in domestic demand of 8%, suggest that inflation is likely to pick up.

You might conclude that the ECB is the more credible of the two central banks. Unfortunately, it has two disadvantages. It has no track record, so it has to try harder to explain its decisions. And it does not have at its helm the saintly Alan Greenspan.

Mr. Greenspan has undoubtedly been an excellent central banker. But he has also been lucky: his time at the Fed has coincided with a worldwide fall in inflation. He has been heavily criticized by some (The Economist among them) for not doing more to prevent a financial bubble and its accompanying financial and economic imbalances.

Now investors remain confident that he will be able to engineer a soft landing and that America's economy will continue to outpace Europe's. The evidence of rising inflation, and hence the need for interest rates to rise by more than the markets expect, will make that task harder. And if Mr. Greenspan does not manage it, investors may soon start treating the dollar with the disdain that they now reserve for the euro.