. that ’ s true in every country. some households, typically older and richer households, are savers. other households, because they ’ re at a different point in their life, or their individual circumstances are different, are debtors. roughly speaking, about 30 % of european households are in debt, so their attitude to low interest rates would be quite different from someone who ’ s fortunate enough to have a significant amount of savings. do you think that this accommodative monetary policy fuelled right - wing populism in northern european countries? as you know, the former german finance minister, wolfgang schauble, accused the ecb of having strengthened the afd. i think this discussion has to evolve over time. the ecb or any other central bank has to recognise what the market forces are delivering. the big, difficult discussion is : how do governments respond to that in terms of their reform policies, in terms of their fiscal policies? essentially, if the world economy is growing slowly, if there is not sufficient support from fiscal policy, if the reform policies are not sufficiently ambitious, then the policy choices for the ecb or any other central bank are going to be quite limited. on the other hand, right - wing populists in southern european countries, the italian lega for example, often blame the euro for the weak growth of the last decades. how dangerous are those discussions for the future of the common currency? it ’ s an important debate and it ’ s an evolving one. recent eurobarometer surveys show a significant improvement in the attitude of individuals towards the euro. some of the worst of this is fading. one has to remember that the euro remains a very young currency ; it ’ s only 20 years old this year. we should all recognise how important it has been to reform the institutional architecture of the euro area, particularly in the last years. it ’ s a massive regret that some of the reforms that are now in place had not been implemented in advance of the crisis. the crisis could have been managed better if we had already put the european stability mechanism ( esm ), the banking union and so on in place earlier. thanks to these reforms, we now have a lot more stability, which has helped the euro area to perform better. but other important factors have had a role in influencing the debate around the euro. which ones? in the last 25 years a number of developments overlapped with the introduction of the euro. we ’

the signals from the monetary analysis confirms this picture. as regards fiscal policies, the governing council welcomes the european commission ’ s assessment of the 2014 draft budgetary plans which were submitted in october for the first time under the “ two - pack ” regulations. this new surveillance exercise needs to be fully effective. in order to put high public debt ratios on a downward path, governments should not unravel their efforts to reduce deficits and sustain fiscal adjustment over the medium term. in bis central bankers ’ speeches particular, consolidation measures should be growth - friendly and have a medium - term perspective, so as both to improve public services and minimise the distortionary effects of taxation. at the same time, there is a need to push ahead with product and labour market reforms, in order to improve competitiveness, raise potential growth, generate employment opportunities and foster the adaptability of our economies. we are now at your disposal for questions. bis central bankers ’ speeches