time only to be more or less forgotten with nothing implemented. i fervently hope this will not happen again. quite simply, it must not happen again. towards a cohesive and efficient financial regulatory framework the executive board of the riksbank and the general council of the riksbank have presented a joint report to the riksdag where we propose that one or several commissions of enquiry should be appointed to review the regulatory framework in the financial sector. we need to create a cohesive and efficient regulatory framework. it should contribute to maintaining financial stability and if a crisis nevertheless arises, it should minimise the costs to consumers and to society as a whole. these are questions that should neither be discussed endlessly nor allowed to come to nothing when the situation stabilises. if we are to prevent costly crises in the future, we must together investigate and implement changes. urgently! around the world there is already extensive work being carried out in this field, particularly with regard to the international supervision perspective. but implementing changes at international level can take time. even if some progress has been made, it is likely that no comprehensive measures will be implemented until we have in principle left the crisis entirely behind us. we should not wait for this work to be completed in all areas. in several cases we should instead remedy deficiencies as quickly as possible and improve our own financial regulatory framework. more tangibly, we propose, for instance that the sveriges riksbank act should be reviewed. this is with the aim of clarifying the riksbank ’ s responsibility for financial stability and what tools the riksbank needs to manage this task. there are several important issues in this field. for example, should it be explicitly stated in the instrument of government or the sveriges riksbank act that the riksbank has a responsibility for financial stability? i hope that we will fairly soon have the answer to this and other related questions. another area concerns investigating how the allocation of responsibility and coordination between the riksbank and finansinspektionen can be improved. moreover, the distribution of responsibility between the riksbank and the swedish national debt office with regard to loans to the foreign currency reserve should also be made clearer. a further question is the one i raised just now, namely that an efficient regulatory framework is needed for managing banks in distress. concluding remarks let me finish where i began. we are on safer and firmer ground now than we were a few

. do the wage settlements create really good conditions for increased employment and has a foundation been laid for further responsible wage settlements in the next negotiating round in two to three years time? some positive things in the swedish economy have also happened in recent years as regards competitive conditions and price formation. with the ongoing process of internationalisation, european monetary union and advances in the it field, there is likely to be a further intensification of competition and downward pressure on prices, to the benefit of swedish consumers. but there is cause to consider whether more can be done, which if there is would also assist monetary policy. finally i considered aspects of monetary policy and the current situation in this respect. in the past six months inflation prospects have improved. like many central banks in central europe, the riksbank has accordingly moved from a situation that pointed to the likelihood of a relatively quick succession of continued interest rate increases to one where the need of higher interest rates in the near future seems to have disappeared. with the bright inflation prospects and a strict interpretation of the riksbank ’ s rule for monetary policy decisions, today there may even be grounds for considering a minor downward repo rate adjustment. what the riksbank now has reason to consider is whether such an adjustment would lead to good conditions for stable economic development in the future. * * * gdp growth 1980 - 1997 index : 1980 = 100, seasonally adjusted trend : 1993 - 97 trend : 1985 - 90 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 sources : ecowin and the riksbank budgetbalance : sweden and eu - average per cent of gdp, 1998 - 1999 forecast by ni and oecd - 2 - 4 - 6 - 8 - 10 - 12 - 14 - 2 - 4 - 6 - 8 - 10 - 12 - 14 sweden eu - average sources : oecd and national institute of economic research ( ni ) wage curve : sweden and eu area wage / employee, annual percentage change, 1998 - 1999 forecast by oecd sweden eu - area 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 source : oecd inflationexpectations of labour market organisations per cent 4. 5 4. 0 3. 5 3. 0 2. 5 2. 0 1. 5 1. 0 0. 5 0. 0 - 0. 5 jan - 95 feb - 96 nov - 97 feb - 98 may - 98 4.