the mortgage situation in ireland. those global factors will be there no matter what happens to these mortgage rates in ireland. it ’ s a very important issue for the individual in terms of coping with the mortgage they face. but in terms of saying this will somehow contribute to a repricing of the value of property, i don ’ t think that ’ s how it will work. we ’ ve just had an election. we probably won ’ t have a government for some time. what economic advice would you give to any incoming government? every six weeks when we make our monetary policy statement, the last part of our statement essentially gives the list of our advice. one thing is that we do think the european economy will be better off the more governments do to improve the functioning of the economy. there is a long list of recommendations, called the country - specific recommendations that the european commission offers to the member countries. ireland has a long list in terms of improving infrastructure, productivity, etc. there are many dimensions to it, but i think everyone can identify 2 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches the same list. we also say that those countries with a strong enough fiscal position can do more to raise the level of economic activity in the euro area. but we also say that those countries with high levels of public debt, and less robust public finances, need to make sure their fiscal position is prudent. what i have just said there doesn ’ t boil down to any fixed set of demands. in the end, the decisions of government are correctly left with the political system. but in terms of some core principles, it ’ s to balance prudence in managing the public finances and to make sure that the government policies are promoting sustainable growth : sustainable, long - term, climateconscious, consistent with the carbon transition, consistent with raising productivity. if you read the manifestos of all the parties, they all have different ideas, but i think all share the same principle, which is : the more we can have a sustainable economy that is delivering employment and so on, the better for the future of the irish economy. is the irish economy one of those countries that has more room to stimulate economic activity? well, as you know, this is a long - running debate. at one level, there has been a lot of progress. all of these difficult years of austerity have led to a big improvement in public finances and the number one uncertainty is about the future of corporation tax revenue,

mr clementi comments on the systemic aspects of the basel proposals speech given by mr david clementi, deputy governor of the bank of england, at a financial services authority conference, held in london on 2 december 1999. * * * ladies and gentlemen, i am delighted to be given this opportunity to address you today. i must first express my admiration for the pro - active and thorough way that the fsa is seeking views from the industry on these important proposals. i know that as well as this conference, their efforts have encompassed briefing sessions, circulars to banks, advisory group meetings, and a dedicated website. there will no doubt be a few focus groups springing up in due course! the bank of england is in turn holding regular meetings with the main trade bodies, while various of the basel committees involved in developing the proposals have conducted surveys and received presentations from banks and others. i hope that, at the end of the process, if differences of opinion remain between the authorities and the banking industry, this will be the result of rational divergence between our different perspectives, and certainly not through any failure of communication. i intend to direct my comments to the systemic aspects of the basel proposals. the bank has a close interest in this subject and i will start by outlining the relationship between the design of the regulatory system and the bank ’ s core purposes. in promoting the stability and efficiency of the financial system, we favour capital charges based on more sensitive risk measures. some argue that such measures are procyclical and add to the vulnerability of the system as a whole. i will deal with this issue before going on to discuss some features of the new proposals. in particular i will consider the pros and cons of more complex rules, the use of internal ratings and the measurement of operational risks. i will end by looking beyond the current proposals at potential new chapters for the basel accord, including the harmonisation of provisioning policies and the development of capital charges for financial conglomerates. the role of the bank of england in financial stability as many of you may know, the bank of england has three core purposes : first, to maintain the integrity and value of the currency, generally referred to as our monetary policy objective ; second, to maintain the stability of the financial system, both domestic and international ; and third, to ensure the effectiveness of the uk ’ s financial services. the bank ’ s monetary policy role is well known through the minutes of monetary policy committee meetings and the quarterly publication of the