i. e. fixing the exchange rate and devaluing occasionally, was a source of uncertainty and instability. markets learned how that regime worked, and therefore interest rates were constantly high, creating that snowball effect that brought italy the very high public debt burden it has now. the country ’ s problem is that it entered monetary union with that high public debt and governments did not seize the opportunity offered by lower interest rates to reform the economy. now the low interest rate environment and easier financial conditions are again facilitating the necessary reforms. it ’ s a window. i think this is understood : some reforms are in the pipeline. but as i said it ’ s always a matter of implementation. what is your early assessment of the reforms, including the labour market reform, in italy? the so - called jobs act can be a very important building block in a bold reform agenda. in spain a similar step was taken three years ago, and it was a key factor pushing the spanish economy to generally outperform the rest of the euro area in 2014. as we have seen in spain, the jobs act reform can make italy a more attractive location for doing business. it can create new employment opportunities, reabsorb the unemployed and give more stable and better - paid jobs to those who seek work certainty. but, again, this should be the starting point of an ambitious agenda for economic reforms. it should not be the end of the efforts. the fall of the euro has been the most visible consequence of qe. there is a disconnect between the state of the economy and monetary policy, especially in respect of the dollar. will the fed be “ patient ” about a further rise of the dollar? currencies will reflect fundamentals and that is basically what we have seen. i cannot comment further on the exchange rate movements. from the european point of view, the decline of the effective exchange rate has been relatively modest. bis central bankers ’ speeches but can you be accused of having started a currency war, given what other central banks have had to do to respond to your qe? we have received a lot of international support for our recent measures. we do it for domestic reasons. the imf told us we should have done it faster, so it was no surprise for anybody. we did the credit easing first, which gave renewed incentives for banks to create credit for the real economy, but in terms of the quantity it was not sufficient. inflation expectations were not rebounding, so we

it still remains relatively high at a rate of 9 %. any attempt for wages to catch up in reaction to recent oil price increases would be highly detrimental to the current favourable growth prospects, since monetary policy would need to react to the resulting upward pressure on prices. 4. conclusion let me conclude at this point. the structural environment is clearly changing. over the past decade or so, there has been a drive to integrating markets in europe. the euro area, with its single currency, will increasingly be perceived as one large market. this creates many opportunities for business within the euro area. it also creates challenges as competitive forces increase. these will no doubt intensify after the physical introduction of the euro. this will make consumers and enterprises increasingly aware of the existence and benefits of the common currency and will focus the spotlight on still existing price differences in the euro area. the structural environment also poses challenges for policymakers, as the economy is still facing structural rigidities and a relatively high tax burden. however, the potential offered by the large euro area market is clearly already there to be exploited. given the changes for the better on the structural side, i am confident that the euro area offers excellent opportunities for doing business. the current growth prospects are favourable and europe can rely on a central bank which is firmly committed to maintaining price stability. this will serve to further promote what the founders of the international chamber of commerce had in mind : peace and prosperity.