Business Opinion Last week the president of the Bundesbank, Axel Weber, announced that the European Central Bank, of which he is a director, would henceforth stop speaking in code., writes John McManus

Instead of using phrases such as "strong vigilance" and "monitor very carefully" to signal the timing of interest rate moves at its monthly press conferences, the bank would adopt a more direct style in its communications with the market.

The news surprised many, not least the Central Bank of Ireland, which is one of the members of the ECB. But in an effort to keep up with all things European, the Central Bank has agreed to a similar overhaul of its own communications strategy.

It is understood that the press release on private-sector borrowing released on Thursday will be the last one to use such coded language as "for the first time since July 2006 the adjusted annual growth rate of non-mortgage credit fell below 30 per cent" when they mean to say that "the wave of feckless hedonism that has gripped the nation may be abating as the live-now pay-later types start to read the writing on the wall".

The bank has also decided to refrain from using the code phrase "the downward trend in lending to households for house purchase continued in April" to communicate sentiments such as "the party is over in the property market - big time".

A similar move is afoot at the Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority, which has indicated it will no longer produce endless consumer surveys concluding with the coded advice "to shop around". It will from now on warn them that the financial services business is not to be trusted.

The adoption of what is being termed the Weber Dogma in financial services has spread like wildfire. One of the first private-sector concerns out of the traps was Permanent TSB, which has promised to eradicate "code words" from the press release that accompanies the monthly property price index.

Phrases such as "prices in Dublin's commuter counties have experienced the greatest rate of reduction, while Dublin prices have remained stable," will be replaced with more forthright language along the lines of "house prices are falling everywhere" or "the market has flamed out" and "if you bought a new house in the commuter belt in the last few months you have lost money".

Glad to say, estate agents are not far behind in adopting the new culture of openness. And leading from the front, as usual, is Sherry Fitzgerald. In future, when the company puts up its prices for no good reason, it will no longer use code words such as "obliged" and "premium service".

It is hoped that in time the use of code words will become a thing of the past in the wider commercial world. Among companies seriously considering abandoning their use is O2, which last week used the coded phrase "outsourcing its technology function" to describe plans to shed 450 jobs.

O2's rival Vodafone may follow suit, and will cease using coded expressions such as "adding value by giving them [ customers] more minutes at less cost" when it means to say that it is finally having to cut prices thanks to the belated introduction of competition in the Irish mobile market.

Other companies being targeted under the Weber Dogma include Irish Continental Group, whose independent directors have been asked to refrain from circumlocutions such as "discussions were continuing with the consortium to finalise the remaining outstanding matters in order to progress the possible offer by the consortium into an announcement of a firm intention to make an offer". Instead pithy one liners such as "it's make your mind up time" will be the order of the day.

Similar efforts are under way at Independent News & Media, which described proposed changes to its rules on the disclosure of beneficial interest that should serve to keep tabs on Denis O'Brien's stake-building as "keeping the group in line with other public companies".

Perhaps the greatest challenge to the Weber Dogma is in the arena of low-cost airlines, but hopes are high that when Michael O'Leary announces Ryanair's results this week he will finally stop using the code word "passengers" and instead opt for "victims".

Once the corporate world has been conquered, the Webberites are expected to turn their attention to the body politic. A target is Bertie Ahern and his use of the code words "I have dealt with that" when it comes to questions about the Byzantine nature of his personal finances. But as yet nobody knows what he means.