– the significant stock of acquired assets and reinvestments of the maturing principal payments – can have implications for market functioning and price formation. while the short - term economic impact of the crisis is substantial and requires ample monetary policy support, the longer - term outlook is much less certain. it depends in particular on the extent to which the effects of the crisis exert prolonged pressure on supply and demand conditions, and on the strength and speed of fiscal and structural policy responses. fragmenting world trade is likely to redirect the focus of supply chains from short - term efficiency to increased resilience. this will lead to a shortening of supply chains and a reshoring of production. at the same time, a surge in corporate indebtedness could make firms riskier and weigh on their capacity for investment. while these combined effects could act as a brake on productivity growth, they can be effectively offset if firms and policymakers use this crisis to modernise our economies. this includes promoting the digital transformation and refocusing supply chains to fully exploit the allocative efficiency offered by the single market. such reform efforts will be crucial to smooth the sectoral reallocation which could result from the damage that even mild distancing measures inflict on labour - intensive service sectors. while a countercyclical fiscal push can help sustain aggregate demand in the transition, fiscal space 1 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches may not be available in the countries most affected by the crisis. policymakers should therefore use the current window of opportunity and create levers at the european level to reduce the risk of individual countries emerging from the crisis excessively scarred. the european commission ’ s proposal for a major recovery plan, including the largest joint issuance in euro to date, is seen as a major step towards increasing the resilience of our union. if decision - makers can ensure that all countries emerge from the crisis stronger, with more modern and dynamic economies, the recovery will be stronger and more sustainable. this would reduce the burden on monetary policy and the need for further easing of the policy stance. 2 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches

hamad al - sayari : recent economic and financial developments in saudi arabia speech by his excellency hamad al - sayari, governor of the saudi arabian monetary agency, to the custodian of the two holy mosques on the occasion of presenting the 44th annual report of the saudi arabian monetary agency, riyadh, 11 october 2008. * * * it is a great pleasure for me to present to you the 44th annual report of the saudi arabian monetary agency which reviews the latest economic and financial developments in the kingdom. custodian of the two holy mosques, during 2007, the national economy continued its strong growth for the fifth consecutive year, with real gdp increasing by 3. 4 percent. the roles of the private and the government sectors in the development process were enhanced, recording growth rates of 5. 8 percent and 2. 7 percent respectively. the state budget witnessed remarkable improvement in 2007, resulting in a surplus for the fifth consecutive year amounting to 12. 3 percent of gdp. the balance of payments registered a surplus for the ninth consecutive year which stood at 24. 9 percent of gdp. the monetary and banking sector also contributed effectively to the economy by providing adequate liquidity to finance growing and accelerated activities. financial institutions played a significant role in the growth of the economy by providing various modern financial services. custodian of the two holy mosques, with the establishment of the supreme economic council ( sec ) under your wise leadership, the saudi economy has witnessed a dramatic transformation. the council has taken a broad range of decisions and measures aimed at restructuring and regulating the economy and streamlining regulations and legislation which would help to upgrade the level of efficiency and competitiveness of the economy and support optimum operation of production factors. the objective has been to provide an advanced regulatory and administrative framework and an environment attractive to domestic and foreign investments. since the establishment of the council, more than 60 major restructuring reform decisions have been taken in addition to more than 130 decisions for regulatory, procedural and administrative development. fortunately, these developments have been accompanied by remarkable improvement in the state budget and in the world oil markets. consequently, economic performance has obviously improved in recent years. an indicator of this improvement is the private sector ’ s average annual real growth rate of 5. 0 percent and the rise in other non - oil exports by an average annual rate of 23. 1 percent to 7. 3 percent of gdp at the end of 2007. as a result of these reforms, the kingdom has gained a high sovereign rating