economic efficiency and on price developments. it increases the strains on the monetary policy and, in a monetary union, there may be significant adverse spillover effects on other euro area countries. an institutional framework that guarantees sound government finances is an important contribution to macroeconomic stability and is conducive to sustained output growth and employment. it also helps to underpin the monetary policy. the implementation of the stability and growth pact provides sufficient scope in the medium term for a stabilising role for fiscal policy in monetary union. while, on the one hand, an unbalanced fiscal position creates difficulties for the economy concerned, if the government debt level is reduced to a reasonable level and fiscal deficits are close to zero or in surplus, this creates room for manoeuvre in economic downturns for fiscal policy to act as an automatic stabiliser. but this should then also apply if the ecomony grows rapidly or inflation is relatively high. windfalls occurring in such cases should then lead to lower deficits. of course, in making this remark i am not addressing one country in particular. fortunately, however, the dutch language gives me the opportunity to say : “ if the shoe fits, wear it ”. concluding remarks to summarise, national differences in growth and inflation observed in the euro area in the recent past do not appear to be unusual either in a longer - term perspective, nor compared with that which has been seen in the united states. looking into the future, it is of course difficult to predict how these differences may evolve. the experience of the united states suggests that they will not disappear completely. the further development of the single market is likely to lead to some sources of divergence becoming less significant, while others may become more important. divergences across countries will be monitored closely by the ecb but, given that monetary policy is geared towards maintaining price stability in the euro area as a whole, this means that other economic policies are required in circumstances where country or regional developments differ significantly, or over too long a period of time, from area - wide developments. in particular, this means that wage developments, backed by structural reform in labour and product markets, have a significant role to play while fiscal policy, within the framework of the stability and growth pact, must also make a significant contribution.

its key priorities and has re - convened the g20 infrastructure working group, which met in sydney earlier this month. one typical challenge is risk management. infrastructure risk takes many forms. there's the risk that the project is not built efficiently, that investors are unwilling, that demand is too high – leading to congestion – or not high enough. there are risks that revenue can't be collected as intended. there are risks that the construction isn't resilient to natural disasters or just ordinary wear and tear. another typical challenge is financing. most infrastructure assets cost a lot upfront to build, and their monetary return – if any – is only realised over a long period. this can still be an attractive payoff https : / / www. rba. gov. au / speeches / 2018 / sp - ag - 2018 - 06 - 15. html 2 / 8 6 / 15 / 2018 how infrastructure fits in | speeches | rba structure for private investors, depending on how the project is structured. ensuring private sector participation in infrastructure finance has therefore been a priority of the g20. a common thread in these challenges is that the nature of the risks and funding issues are very different in the ‘ build phase ’ than in the ‘ run phase ’, once the infrastructure is being used. this is true of any large construction project and, similarly, one solution can be to have different actors involved in the two stages. what policies might lessen these challenges? the good news is that, if we face common challenges, the solutions are also likely to be common. we can learn from each other. so there is value in sharing information about best practice across countries. for example, during australia's g20 presidency in 2014, a global infrastructure hub ( gi hub ) was announced, with an aim of, among other things, sharing guidance on best practices. if you think about it, the principles for designing a good road network or locating a railway line don't really change according to where you live. there will be differences relating to legal frameworks or other national specifics, but most of what constitutes best practice will be universal. to lessen the financing challenge, g20 authorities have been focusing on initiatives that can make infrastructure an attractive asset class. [ 2 ] there is plenty of private sector financing looking for the stable long - term cash flows that certain kinds of infrastructure assets can provide, once they are built. the question is how to bring that financing to the projects that need