standardisation in cards, payment innovations, a migration end date, and the governance of payment issues at the European level. 4  BIS Review 74/2009  Harmonisation in the field of retail payments is a natural area for efficiency gains. However, the market is moving only slowly in this direction. Although SEPA continues to be a mainly self-regulated project, some elements might need more regulator involvement. The Eurosystem has emphasised that a realistic but ambitious SEPA migration end date is necessary. Such a date would facilitate communication and provide more certainty for all stakeholders. The most viable option for achieving an end date is through regulation by the public authorities. Since an EU regulation is probably the most effective option the Eurosystem appreciates the Commission’s launch of a public consultation on this topic. Only by tearing down the walls of fragmentation can we ultimately bring about harmonisation, efficiency gains and a level playing-field. Such a development inevitably leads to increased competition. I am fully aware that it is not easy – especially in a period of low growth and higher credit risks – to change revenue models. However, those who invest early will benefit and position themselves successfully. Corporates tell us that they would benefit from SEPA services because they are internationally connected. Taking into consideration the renewed relevance of retail payments, the key success factors in the years ahead will be harmonisation, innovation and increased competitiveness. Banks and infrastructures will successfully take up these challenges only by continuing to play an important role in retail payments.

Swedish economy is continuing to perform strongly According to the preliminary version of the National Accounts, GDP grew by 3.0 per cent during the second quarter compared with the same quarter last year, see Figure 7, which was more than both the market and we had expected. Despite GDP growth being a little stronger than expected, both consumption and investment were slightly weaker, which was counteracted by unexpectedly weak imports. The number of hours worked developed roughly as expected, which means that labour productivity was stronger than we assumed in the July Monetary Policy Report. During the summer (June and July) unemployment has become lower than we predicted, at the same time as the labour force and employment showed weaker development than expected. However, the labour market surveys statistics are particularly uncertain during the summer months, which makes it difficult to draw any definite conclusions. Further outcomes are needed to be able to determine whether the earlier positive development in employment and the labour force has really been subdued. Our forward-looking indicators regarding demand for labour on the whole point to the labour market continuing to improve in the coming period. The number of redundancies is still low and newly-registered vacancies at the Swedish employment service are at a high level. Employment plans in the National Institute of Economic Research’s Business Tendency Survey rose somewhat in July, after having fallen earlier in the year, and indicate rising employment in the business sector.