The European Central Bank said on Feb 9, 2001 plans by the U.S. monetary authorities to widen their holdings of government securities in the euro zone to include countries other than Germany were a logical step following the arrival of the euro. "This is a natural consequence of the introduction of the euro," said an ECB spokesman. "The U.S. authorities informed the ECB in advance of this development."

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York said in its quarterly report to Congress on Feb 8 that