Dear President and Board of the Bank of Estonia,
Ladies and Gentlemen!

In this hall, years ago, I held my first speech on the anniversary of the Republic of Estonia. Already then, I remember having mentioned the fact that the Estonian independence was proclaimed on the other side of the street. Today, I wish to add a symbolic dimension. Perhaps it is not a coincidence that on the last of the hard years of the World War I - when the war was to continue for two more years for Estonia - the Estonian people proclaimed their independence in the building that today we consider to be one of the most secure and reliable in Tallinn: in the Bank of Estonia.

Celebrating the anniversary of the Bank of Estonia as one of the institutions of an independent state, I would like to remind all these present here that the Estonian kroon is the symbol of Estonian independence, of the Estonian sovereignty, of the Estonian State. And to contradict myself at once. If I'm not mistaken, the Bank of Finland considers the year 1811, when the Fiscal Commission of the Finnish Senate started its activities, to be its birthdate. And yet it was only in the middle of the past century that our Finnish kinsmen reached the point of emitting their own banknotes. Let me remind the banking people with numismatic interests that at the same time, in the middle of last century, the City of Tallinn waived the privilege granted to it in ancient times, namely the right to emit its own currency. Historians, not financing experts, should draw their conclusions from here, and see how different Estonia's attitude towards the attributes of the state, the insignia of the state was from that of Finland; therefore, the fact how quickly the Estonians came to understand the value of their national insignia and understood, in their own unhurried manner, in their plodding way, as Andrus Saareste would put it, that in this respect too, they should reach the level of other states, should be appreciated even more highly. Today, the Bank of Estonia has become one of the upholders of Estonia's good name in the world.

And having said this, I would like to try a different angle of approach. Should we ask the people in the street what the Bank of Estonia does, the answer would in most cases be limited to a shrug. Some would know that there are bars of gold hidden in the cellar on the Estonia Boulevard, they would also have noticed that the Estonian money is emitted by the Bank of Estonia, and yet it seems that even the majority of state officials do not have a very clear idea of the Bank of Estonia's position on the landscape of governmental institutions. Only now has the 80th anniversary brought the Bank Estonia to the focus of general attention.

The Bank of Estonia is the Great Invisible of the Estonian economy, and strange as it may seem, I wish this to remain so. This is the proper role for the Bank of Estonia - to keep our economy, our banking system going, and to remain unseen. Public attention focusing on the national bank generally means that something is amiss. I am pleased - or maybe not pleased, it is rather that I prefer to admit that the commercial banks of Estonia take up much more space of the newspaper pages than the Bank of Estonia - the systems expert that manages and controls them.

The Bank of Estonia could be compared to the foundation of a house. The foundation determines the nature and structure of the house, and yet the smoke raising from the chimney is visible tens and hundreds of times farther than the unseen foundation. Only an expert can tell how strong is the base supporting the building.

The Bank of Estonia is one of the supporting pillars of Estonia's economic and social life in several ways. First, I would like to refer to the dimension of ideas. The singing revolution in Estonia has acquired the status of an international symbol. The decades-long resistance of the Estonian people has much less been talked about, but is still much more important; it was also apparent in our small and quiet gatherings, in the small Estonian coughs - as my good friend Heinz Valk used to say: ''I am silently coughing my small Estonian cough'' - and in these times, strange as it may seem, people sang about the Estonian kroon coming back home. About the times when the Estonian kroon would be valid again.

It was during the long decades of foreign occupation that the Estonian kroon became the measure of our national independence. Even today, the Estonian kroon is the conceptual supporting pillar of the Republic of Estonia.

The Estonian kroon is one of the major supporting pillars of our state. Wherever I speak about Estonia to the economic audience of the world, I can proudly mention our monetary system that is based on a currency board arrangement. The currency board system and the fixed rate of the Estonian kroon has guaranteed the necessary stability for our period of transfer. Without them, we would not be where we are now - and the Bank of Estonia has guaranteed their stability.

An eighty-year-old bank is definitely not looking forward to a quiet old age. The Bank of Estonia is becoming more and more important for the Estonian economy and society. Both in the inward and outward development. For the Estonian economy to be able to continue in full gear we must improve the economic environment, and also enhance such an elusive aspect as transparency. According to both the foreign investors and our own proprietors, the latter is one of the most important factors determining the investment climate. In my opinion, the Bank of Estonia with its moral authority and capable experts could be a bellwether in enhancing the transparency of our economic life.

Estonia is firmly set on the course of the accession to the European Union. Our economic system - quite liberal in our world - has played a considerable role in our quick accession tempo to the EU. And yet, paradoxically, our progressive attitude could cause us problems in our relations with the older members of the European Union. I see the Bank of Estonia as an institution that must ensure that our fiscal policy fits into the framework of the European Union and later even perhaps to that of the European money. I do not think that we should force ourselves into the European framework humbly and unconditionally. We should work in order to enlarge the frames of Europe for the benefit of everybody involved. The technical guarantees of this process, the drafting of different scenarios, is clearly one of the main tasks of the Bank of Estonia. A feasible and befitting task for the Bank of Estonia.

And this is why I am here - to wish you success, good luck and a good start in fulfilling this task. Thank you.

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