measures are still missing? we would encourage everything that goes in the direction of structural reforms to unleash the capacity of italy to grow faster, to have a better growth potential. the potential of italy is immense, and the present growth potential is not in line with the overall capacity of italy. i think there is a general consensus among economists on this, and everything that goes in the direction of unleashing productive forces is welcome. which other strengths do you see in the potential of the italian economy? one of the major strengths of italy is its entrepreneurial spirit. the capacity of individuals and families to start a business, take risks and be devoted to their enterprises is exceptional. but this entrepreneurial spirit, which is shared by society as a whole, needs to be allowed to develop fully through structural reforms aimed at increasing the flexibility of the economy. bis central bankers ’ speeches what more should be done to increase growth? for instance, reducing protection in non - tradable sectors and monopolies, approving the liberalisation of closed professions, higher pension age, making labour markets more flexible and an overall increase in productivity? a lot of things can be done, in particular but not exclusively the liberalisation of closed professions, improved flexibility of the labour markets, improved education and training, and measures to boost innovation. how do you evaluate the fact that italy is going to have a primary surplus as a percentage of gdp from next year onwards? it is of course something which is important, and maybe not sufficiently well - known by external observers. we encourage italy to follow this path and to do all that is necessary in order to consolidate this primary surplus and reach the goal of having balanced overall public finances in 2013. do you think that this objective can be reached with the measures taken until now? what counts is the goal. the decisions which were taken recently make it possible to advance significantly in the direction of that goal. whether new decisions will have to be taken, taking into account the overall situation and the evolution of the real economy, is an open question. but the goal is the goal ; it has been affirmed, and it is very important. would it have been better to publish the messages you sent to italy? as you know, we have sent messages and we do that on a permanent basis, through various means, addressed to individual governments. we do not make them public. but we are calling for all governments without exception to permanently ensure sound fiscal and macroeconomic policies. we do this every

sessions. but it is not enough that we discuss and become wise for ourselves. i urge everyone to turn these discussions into actions that would lead to public policy for sustainable development goals of our country, just as our conference theme reflects. let us use our wisdom to help not just ourselves but others as well. after this conference, i look forward to being with everyone at the alumni homecoming this evening. but i will not keep you any longer. i hope for everyone to have fruitful discussions and meaningful exchanges at this conference. once again, thank you very much and i wish you all a productive day ahead. 1 / 1 bis central bankers'speeches