consider that the ecb should take a more aggressive stance in buying public debt. let me give you some perspective on the issue. in some jurisdictions, unconventional monetary policies have led central banks to purchase significant amounts of government debt – these purchases amount to 58 % of total debt issued since 2009 in the uk, 21 % in the us and between 9 and 10 % in the euro area ( there was a monetary policy objective in all cases ). although this was not the primary purpose, this policy stance has contributed to providing markets with an insurance, or even an assurance, against a potential dry - up in liquidity. in countries where significant amounts of debt have been purchased by monetary authorities, long - term interest rates have been kept at very low levels, irrespective of their fiscal situation. but this equilibrium could be unstable in a different inflation environment. indeed, markets seem to be aware of some inflation “ tail risks ” and are hedging against these risks through gold and the chf, whose prices have reached historical highs. in the euro area, we consider that any lasting backstop has to come from governments. this is why we have been asking for a speedy implementation and greater flexibility in the efsf and very much welcome decisions taken in this regard in july and in october. at this stage, therefore, the euro area is paying a double price. one for its mistakes and one for its virtues. the mistakes, for governments, was to allow the piling up of debt through unsustainable fiscal policies over a decade, and then to create ex nihilo a doubt as to their willingness to pay those debts. and we are also paying the price for our virtue and our refusal to liquefy public debt through massive monetization of our fiscal deficits. i believe that virtue will eventually be rewarded. in the next decade, markets and lenders will trust those currencies that, whatever the circumstances, are managed with one overriding priority : preserving price stability and the intrinsic value of the currency unit. on this fundamental basis, we can look at the future of the euro with strong and realistic optimism. i see the recent decision by the swiss central bank to peg the chf to the euro as a confirmation of this statement. conclusion history has taught us that financial crises can be extremely violent. the current turmoil in europe is no exception. in the most intense phases, it is difficult to imagine that there is light at the end of the tunnel. but history

and the eu in a swift, orderly and consistent manner. we can ’ t make any assumptions at this stage as to the outcome of the negotiations. what is clear, however, is that there can be no cherrypicking and no free - riding. for the uk to maintain access to the single financial market, all the usual eu rules should be strictly respected. 2 ) building on our strengths to raise investment and growth despite the gradual economic upturn seen in 2015 – 2016, our main european challenge is still how to increase growth. to achieve this, the priority is to boost business investment – in france it is currently forecast at + 3. 4 % for 2016. this depends on economic levers, to be strengthened through structural reforms. but it also depends on financial levers – the core challenge being equity financing, which is key for innovation. in this respect, europe is lagging far behind the us : the equity share of corporate financing in the euro area is 52 % of gdp compared with 121 % in the us. bis central bankers ’ speeches france and europe do have substantial strengths to meet this investment challenge. let me focus on two of them today : – first, savings are abundant. in france, the household saving rate is high : 14. 1 % of gross disposable income in 2015, second only to germany ( 17. 4 % ) among the main european economies. in the euro area, the current account surplus is substantial : more than 3 % of gdp in april 2016 – meaning that savings exceed investment by nearly eur 330 billion. this gap needs to be closed by fostering investment rather than by reducing savings. – second, our financial system is solid. the regulatory and supervisory frameworks have been considerably strengthened since the crisis, both at the international and european levels. today, the french banking system is one of the soundest in europe and in advanced economies : between 2008 and 2015, the cet1 solvency ratio of france ’ s major banking groups more than doubled, from 5. 8 % to 12. 6 %, which is eur + 143 billion of core capital. moreover, their liquidity ratio has exceeded 100 %, three years ahead of the basel iii deadline. the french insurance sector too is robust, and has swiftly adapted to solvency ii. new assessments are under way, but using the previous standards, france ’ s major insurance groups cover their own funds requirement by around 230 %. clearly, financial stability is a priority for us ;