Professor Patrick Honohan:

The role is to ensure there is nothing for horses to be frightened about. It does happen that people can get into a situation, which they did, of causing more damage by suddenly revealing a situation that was not imagined. That is something that is very difficult to manage. As a central banker one must at all costs avoid creating particular situations. For example, the Senator might recall the old days when we had fixed exchange rates and the famous occasion when the then Minister for Finance when asked if he was going to hold onto the exchange rate or if there was going to be a devaluation, said, if my memory serves me right, "We'll hold it until the end of the week". One cannot allow oneself to get into a situation where one creates an uncertainty and panic which causes people to damage the rest of the economy.