because of the feared negative impact on the economy. 2. as countries show hesitation in addressing their budgetary problems, access to financial markets tends to become more difficult. 3. when market access deteriorates, the budgetary measures required to restore confidence are much more drastic and painful. some observers, especially outside europe, have suggested that european democracies are not able to deal with such a vicious circle. they consider that the only way out of the dilemma is a default, or a partial default. some have – even recently – voiced openly this view, maybe with the intent to influence financial markets and increase the probability of such an event to occur ; an event from which they would presumably take profit. this view, however, does not take into consideration that in advanced economies a sovereign default is very damaging for the citizens of the country concerned, as it would drastically affect their wealth. increasing the primary surplus, either by cutting expenditure or by increasing – in certain cases by starting to pay – taxes, has in most cases less damaging effects on the economy and on citizens ’ well - being than a cut in the value of their financial assets. to sum up, consolidating public finances is painful economically and politically, but the alternative is worse. governments in europe are fully aware of this. let me move to the second issue, which concerns the strengthening of the institutional framework underlying the single currency. to understand the issue one should first consider what did not work as expected during the first ten years of the euro. two main things did not work. first, in some countries the behaviour of the private and public sector was not fully consistent with the long run requirements of a single currency area. divergences may occur in currency unions, or even within countries, as some regions may grow more than others and experience booms which then burst. in the euro area, the lack of a federal budget transforms country - specific shocks into public finance shocks and thus financial stability shocks. this is why a currency union like the euro area needs a system of discipline for both the public and the private sector, to be exercised at the level of the member states. the euro area had a system aimed at disciplining the public sector, i. e. the stability and growth pact ( sgp ), with rules and procedures aimed at avoiding excessive deficits. the pact worked in some cases, but not all. the main reason has been that the eurogroup, which comprises the finance ministers of the euro area and

the visayas region, the security thread of the 200piso banknote changes colors from green to blue. lastly, the 100 - piso was designed after an indigenous textile from the bicol region and with colors that shift from violet to bronze. all these banknotes also have three - dimensional and holographic features. in addition, the 1000 - piso and the 500 - piso banknotes feature design elements that use optically variable ink, which enables change in color when viewed at a different angle. the value panels of these two banknotes were added with a rolling - bar effect when tilted from left to right, and vice versa. finally, a distinct security feature will help us achieve our mission of bringing bsp closer to filipinos. we added tactile marks to the banknotes specifically intended to help the elderly and 1 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches visually impaired to quickly identify the value or denomination of the banknote. pairs of short horizontal bands are printed in intaglio or engraved at the extreme right and left sides of the note. a 1000 - piso has five pairs of this tactile mark ; the 500 - piso will have four pairs ; three pairs for the 200 - piso ; two pairs for the 100 - piso ; while a 50 - piso will have one pair of tactile marks. through this distinguishing feature, the elderly and the visually impaired will be more confident in using the banknotes for their transactions, paving the way for financial inclusion. needless to say, our banknotes are the treasure of our nation — as we always remind the filipino public, “ ingatan natin ang ating salapi, salamin ito ng ating yamang lahi. ” let us all do our part in preserving and safeguarding its value. maraming salamat at magandang hapon sa ating lahat! 2 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches