flexible to address asymmetric external shocks in particular. relative cost competitiveness, including wage developments, has an important impact on our economy. thus, it's important that wage - setting procedures are flexible and avoid too long and rigid wage contracts. finally, one cannot overestimate the significance of having a resilient and sound banking sector to support monetary transmission and facilitate the funding of the real economy under all circumstances. well - functioning banking sector facilitates financial stability and support economic growth. hence, each member country should have adequate macroprudential policy tools at hand as well as be ready to adjust them also to complement single monetary policy. finally to conclude, i believe that the common monetary union - wide policy has served the finnish economy well. we have avoided excessive fluctuations stemming from currency volatility and risk premia. at the same time, our inflation rate has closely followed the euro area average inflation. however, it is true that small economies in currency unions need to pay careful attention to public indebtedness, the accumulation of financial risks, and the competitiveness of their economy. but sound policies are called for no matter what kind of a monetary policy regime you have opted for. thank you for your attention. 5 / 5 bis - central bankers'speeches

ahead? in the relatively near future probably some major central banks will begin gradually moving away from near - zero interest rates. the question here is whether the emerging market countries of asia – and, indeed, of the world – are sufficiently prepared for these decisions, to the extent that potential capital flows and market adjustments can take place without major macroeconomic consequences. while we continue to scrutinize incoming data, and no final decisions have been made, we have done everything we can to avoid surprising the markets and governments when we move, to the extent that several emerging market ( and other ) central bankers have, for some time, been telling the fed to “ just do it. ” further ahead lies the answer to the question of whether developments in the global economy will permit the continuation of the export - centered growth strategy that underlies the asian miracle or whether we will later conclude that this period, the period after the great recession and the global financial crisis, marked the beginning of a new phase in the economic history of the modern global economy. 6 either way, the question of the economic future of india is of major importance not only to the 18 percent of the world ’ s population that lives in india, but also to the other 82 percent of the global population. at a more structural level are three recent developments whose potential importance is currently difficult to assess : the setting up of the asian infrastructure investment bank ; the likely inclusion of the chinese yuan in the special drawing rights basket ; and the possible establishment of the tpp, a partnership in which china is not expected to be a founding member. 7 these are interesting and potentially important developments. underlying the answer to the questions of what they portend, is the answer to the basic question of whether the economic center of gravity of the world will continue its shift of recent decades toward asia – in particular, to china or, perhaps, to china and india. this shift would represent a return in some key respects to the global order of two centuries ago and earlier, before the economic rise of the west. a partial answer to that question is that china is for some time likely to continue to grow faster than the rest of the world and thus to produce an increasing share of global output. its importance in the global economy is likely to increase, and it is probable that, one way or another, its growth will result in its playing a more decisive role in the international economy and in international economic institutions. finally, we need to remind ourselves that geopolitical factors will