- term inflation expectations firmly anchored in line with price stability, thereby preserving purchasing power in the medium term and supporting sustainable growth and employment in the euro area. on the basis of our current assessment, the monetary policy stance following today ’ s decision will contribute to achieving our objective. we will continue to monitor very closely all developments over the period ahead. regarding fiscal policy, budgetary consolidation targets are at risk in a number of euro area countries. moreover, the risk of countries ’ budget deficits coming close to or even exceeding the 3 % of gdp reference value has increased. the governing council therefore reiterates its strong support for a rigorous implementation of euro area governments ’ 2008 budgets and a prudent design of fiscal policy plans for 2009, in line with the agreement in the eurogroup in may 2008. achieving and maintaining sound structural fiscal positions is essential to ensure the sustainability of public finances as well as to create scope for the free working of automatic stabilisers in all euro area countries and thereby contribute to the smoothing of cyclical fluctuations. as regards structural reforms, we reiterate our full support for all efforts to enhance competition, increase productivity and foster market flexibility. in view of the marked increase in international food commodity prices, removing impediments to competition at the various stages of the food supply chain in the retail and distribution sectors would benefit european consumers through lower prices. as regards labour markets, let me direct your attention to the ecb ’ s 2008 structural issues report, which was recently submitted to the european parliament. it emphasises the generally favourable labour market developments in the euro area over the last decade but equally points out the urgent need to counter the ageingrelated reduction in the labour force, in particular by increasing employment in all groups of society, by making labour markets more flexible and by enhancing investment in education and training. we are now at your disposal for questions.

claims in foreign currency in return for rapid changes in policy. when macro policy is not obviously the chief culprit, restoring confidence may be harder and more expensive. injecting new money in exchange for reforms may still be the primary answer, but the patience of taxpayers wears thin as amounts escalate and it is perceived that some classes of creditors are being bailed out with official international resources - - creditors who should have calculated the risks more accurately and should bear the cost of not having done so, so they won ’ t do it again. some have asked whether official resources could be saved and moral hazard reduced by designing an automatic international bankruptcy - like process, known in advance, by which a standstill could be triggered, followed by a set procedure for sharing the burden among all the relevant creditors. serious thought is being devoted to this issue. it is not hard to imagine such an approach, but all crises are different and applying a cooky cutter solution could well do more harm than good. the next few years will be a testing time for what i think of as the “ cross - border community ”, meaning the organizations, public and private, dedicated to making the cross - border relationships ( especially business and financial ones ) work better. the “ cross - border community ” includes mega firms that produce goods and deliver financial services on a worldwide scale, and associations of accountants, lawyers, bankers, securities dealers, insurance underwriters and various kinds of financial regulators as well as general international financial institutions ( the imf and the world bank ) and more specialized ones such as the bank for international settlements, and the regional development banks - - to mention only a few of the more obvious members of a burgeoning species. the benefits of cross - border trade and capital flows for raising the world standard of living are clear, but so are some of the costs - - especially the costs to ordinary people of being caught in the backwash when there is a crisis. if these costs are not taken seriously and methods designed to mitigate and manage financial crises better, a wave of political backlash against capitalism, foreigners and what we all think is “ progress ” could result. one lesson of recent crises is that factories, banks, shiny buildings, and eager investors do not by themselves create the underpinnings of modern economic society able to withstand shocks with minimal damage. that takes - - in addition to good fiscal, monetary and other public policies - - an infrastructure of laws and traditions and expectations that cannot be