of public finances that ensures their sustainability and provides for fiscal policy headroom to boost investment and growth. last but by no means least, the demographic developments our country will foreseeably face in the coming decades, like other eu members, place greater and more pressing demands on the economic policy responses to the foregoing challenges. this is because a progressively older population makes it more difficult to entrench budgetary sustainability and to ensure long - term economic growth. conclusion as we all know, the economic and political context in which we must face these challenges is not exactly going to be an easy one. the plans for european unity, in their various configurations prior to those we have today, have over the almost 60 years since the project was launched overcome highly diverse difficulties. but i believe that today the risks are high because political repudiation – attributable in part to the crisis, but not only to the crisis – is on the agenda, and this was non - existent or insubstantial only a decade ago. for the first time since the signing of the european union treaty in 1992, political currents and popular movements have arisen in the eu openly contrary to the integration so far achieved and, of course, to potential further steps towards greater integration ; contrary to european institutions and their current remits ; and contrary to the continuity of the single currency. the announced departure by the united kingdom, whatever its final form, is going to encourage these movements. in this situation, national governments, european union authorities and legislators all have a responsibility to come up with the appropriate response and to pursue the reforms that may first contain misgivings and then restore support, relatively seamlessly, for the grand european union project. to conclude, allow me to return to monetary policy and central bank action. as we approach the twentieth anniversary of the launching of the euro, we can have no doubts about the crucial importance of preserving and strengthening the monetary union and the single currency in order to sustain and give continuity to the european union project. many thanks, once more, to fomento de trabajo nacional for this celebratory event and to all of you for your attention.. 7 / 7

s effectiveness and productivity. the cyclical juncture at which the budget for 2011 has been drawn up is marked by the muted start of a phase of recovery which became discernible in the opening months of 2010 and which will foreseeably continue over the coming year. nonetheless, exceptional domestic and external factors of uncertainty are clouding the outlook. so far, the recovery is proving very subdued and dependent on temporary stimuli linked to the government plans supporting spending and to the possible bringing forward of consumption and residential investment decisions by households and firms in the face of the rise in indirect taxes on 1 july. moreover, funding conditions remain restrictive and both the public and private sectors have a pressing need to restore health to their financial position. in these circumstances it will be difficult for domestic demand to post the same figures it did in the first half of the year. the rate of increase of household consumption, one of the most dynamic items in that period, will foreseeably slacken, in line with the diminished growth rate of earnings and the lower contribution of other sources of income, in particular those stemming from general government measures. the response of consumption is expected to be consistent with a declining trajectory of the saving ratio, in step with the changes observed since the start of the year, after almost two years of successive increases in this ratio. it is very likely the other domestic demand components will continue to reflect the weakness of their main determinants. in the case of investment in equipment, this will be due to the excess capacity built up during the crisis and the still - prevailing uncertainty over financing conditions ; and in that of residential investment, to the need to complete the adjustment set in train back in 2006. in contrast, net external demand is expected to be more buoyant once the high growth rates of imports of the previous quarters ease, rates which were linked largely to the bringing forward of certain spending decisions, and exports continue on their rising course. for this to occur, perseverance will be needed in anchoring the cost - and price - competitiveness improvements obtained in recent quarters and entrenching them with genuine productivity gains. in sum, the outlook for the spanish economy is one of gradual recovery which will take some time to attain the dynamism proper to an expansionary phase with sufficient capacity to generate employment. the restoration of confidence, the positive effects of fiscal consolidation on agents ’ expectations and the lessening of uncertainty in the labour market, further to the reform under way, will need to be