cohort of elderly is likely to experience slower growth than one with a lower elderly share. nevertheless, future behavioral changes cannot be excluded – for example, individuals might decide to increase saving over their working - life in view of the projected increase in life expectancy. ageing societies are expected to face mounting health and pension spending pressures putting at risk public finances which, in turn, will further reduce future growth prospects. there are various policy options to address the ageing related future growth challenges. first and foremost, it is important to fully utilize the labour input by taking actions to increase the employment rate. a low employment rate implies that a significant part of the working age population is either unemployed or inactive ( outside the workforce ). for example in greece ( according to the 2015 ageing report ) the employment rate ( for the age group of 15 – 64 years old ) was 48. 7 % in 2013 on account of very high unemployment ( about 28 % for ages 15 – 64 ) and low labour force participation, in particular, for the age group 55 – 64 ( 42. 4 % ). therefore action should be taken to • first, address the very high unemployment because it can have severe long term repercussions, though the hysteresis effects, as it can induce people to drop out of the labour force. at the same time, long term unemployment leads to human capital erosion and a fall in potential growth – translating a cyclical problem into a structural one. bis central bankers ’ speeches • second, action should be taken to raise the currently low participation rate by females and older individuals. for example countries facing these challenges should adopt policies that discourage age and sex discrimination by employers, promote life - long learning and education, allow for more flexible work arrangements for older workers and women, and increase state - funded child care provisions. furthermore, policy makers should also consider increasing the statutory retirement age when this is low by international standards. alternatively, an already high statutory retirement age might have to be made binding by limiting the early retirement schemes. in addition, a life expectancy component could be build into the social security system. finally, migration policies might have to be reconsidered as a whole in europe in view of the future demographic pressures. besides the abovementioned policies aiming at better utilizing the labour input, additional policies should be put forward such as increasing infrastructure investment, facilitating business investment and adopting reforms that can permanently boost the level of potential output and its growth rate in the medium term.

long period of time with regard to the reinvestments, as we cannot exclude the possibility that we will reach our inflation objective earlier than expected or that there will be an increase in negative side effects from our expansionary monetary policy. is quantitative easing ( qe ) a tool the ecb could use again in the future, as some current and former governing council members have suggested? 1 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches in the context of a monetary union with many different sovereigns and no fiscal, genuine economic and political union, qe should not be part of the normal policy toolbox. it should be a tool of last resort, to be used only when there is a clear risk of deflation. with a long - lasting, very accommodative monetary policy, side effects and risks emerge. and while pursuing price stability is the main objective, we also have to keep in mind the costs – and not only the benefits – of our monetary policy measures. what danger does the row between rome and brussels over the italian budget present for the country ’ s banking system? as a banking supervisor it ’ s not our task to comment on political discussions or decisions with regard to the budgets and fiscal stances of individual countries. banks have to acknowledge changes and risks in the macroeconomic environment they operate in. and if these changes are relevant, we as supervisors adapt our assessment of banks ’ risk profiles, too. overall, the italian banking system has become more resilient and banks are better equipped to deal with uncertainties than they were before. what do you see as the top priority for banking supervision in the coming months and years, in italy and elsewhere? among other topics, there is still further work to do on non - performing loans. they will keep us busy for the coming years. the cleaning up of banks ’ balance sheets should be pushed through as quickly as possible. this is not specific to italy. all banks should do their utmost to improve their resilience in sunny times when the economic cycle is on the upside. not all banks have done all of the work we would like them to do. some are well under way, and some still need to do much more. some observers are disappointed that a male candidate – italy ’ s andrea enria – will take over as head of ecb banking supervision from daniele nouy next year, rather than irishwoman sharon donnery. how did you feel about the news? i hope that our ratio of women in central