however, you see the president christine legard says it is still determined to fight inflation and indicated that further rights rises would be necessary. she added that policy makers were monitoring market tensions money. let's speak to andrea springsteen, who is a professor of finance sentiments at the university of most to thanks a lot for joining us on the program. so what is the thinking behind e c b pressing forward with this 50 points rates hike? well actually i was not surprised. learning about it yesterday because of the see be more or less had announce this additional step and i'm in credibility is really important for central bank. and so sticking to this original plan was no surprise for me. yeah. what would have been a surprise fast would have been if they raced it by just $25.00 points or not, raise it at all, which is what some analysts had wanted. but how would that have affected the bees wider strategy for tackling inflation? i'm in nowhere near their target rate, 2 percent or so. and so it would have been hard to believe that after not increasing the rate by 50 basis point,

however, you see be president christine legard says it is still determined to fight inflation and indicated that further rights rises would be necessary. she added that policy makers were monitoring market tensions. monitoring millette speak to andreas, princeton, who is a professor of finance sentiments there at the university of mazda. thanks a lot for joining us on the program. so what is the thinking behind e? c. b, pressing forward with this 50 points rates hike will.

now they will be joined by european central bank chief christine legard, as they discuss european banking exposure to the crisis. straight across the des, brussels bureau, chief, alexandra on non and joining us now from that summit, alexandra, today, the focus is on the european union's economy. after financial turmoil has shaken the global banking sector, you tell us more about what to expect there. well, i think clara, that we can expect a message of confidence and message of reassurance today that banks in the european union, and especially in the euro zone and member states that use the euro as their currency, that they are well protected against a prospect of a new crisis because of course, as you know, they have been concerns after the recent developments in the u ass and in switzerland that there could be a new crisis on the horizon. however, we heard today from euro group president donna how, who's told us that he is confident that banks and the euro zone are resilience, that they have for reserves to ensure stability in the european banking sector. so let's set the stakes here a

it will be joined by european central bank chief christine legard, as they discuss european banking exposure to the crisis. was he'd have used brussels bureau chief alessandra phenomena at that summit for us where today's focus is on the economy. and she told me earlier, what's on the agenda there? well, i think clara, that we can expect a message of confidence and message of reassurance to day that banks in the european union, and especially in the euro zone in member states that use the euro as their currency, that they are well protected against a prospect of a new crisis because of course, as you know, they have been concerns after the recent developments in the u. s. and in switzerland, that there could be a new crisis on the horizon. however, we heard today from euro group president donna how, who's told us that he is confident that banks and the euro zone, our resilience, that they have for reserves to ensure stability in the european banking sector. so let's set the stakes here a little bit. what kind of risks are there for the european union in relation to if i the banking crisis? w

here is its president christine nygaard. -- legarde. >> we are monitoring market develop as closely andnd ready to respond as necessary to preserve price stability and financial stability in the euro area. the euro area banking sector is resilient with strong capital and liquidity positions. in any event, the ecb's policy toolkit is fully equipped to provide liquidity support to the euro area financial system. kasia: despite these assurances, many are concerned by the volatility of the banking sector. >> markets first opened this morning, quite jittery. we saw some heavy falls in european banking stocks across the board. credit suisse shares fell heavily there was also a decent amount of weakness in, for example, deutsche bank, the french banks. that has calmed down a little and it is too soon to be making strong pronouncements about exactly what investors think about the situation, but it is comforting to see these selloffs have calmed down. we are now seeing governments and central banks and regulators around theorld coming together to show strength, to say we have got the situation i