also a second benefit to strengthening the domestic economy, which is that it facilitates rebalancing. more dynamic internal growth offers a way to improve the functioning of the euro area and to accelerate crisis recovery. since countries in a monetary union do not have their own exchange rates, they have to adjust to crises through prices. this is easier to achieve when growth is strong at the euro area level and inflation is in line with the ecb ’ s objective. adjusting countries can quickly improve their relative prices and export more to other members of the union. but if internal demand is too weak and inflation too low, such rebalancing across countries obviously becomes harder. and to some extent, this is what we saw in the euro area after the crisis. as demand was stronger in our trading partners, vulnerable countries had to reverse their imbalances mainly by increasing net exports outside the euro area. importantly, strengthening internal growth is fully consistent with all countries maintaining their competitiveness. if countries boost growth by investing in productive areas of the economy, it not only lifts demand in the short run. it also provides the ingredients for maintaining competitiveness in the face of long - run global challenges. so the question is, what can public policies do to further develop our domestic demand and growth potential, while also encouraging dynamic and globally competitive firms? policies to boost internal growth in my view, since our challenges are common ones, we must meet them with a common response. this involves moving towards a new european policy mix, which has a number of key elements. the first is monetary policy, which i start with because it is my area of responsibility and which will undergo a strategic review due to begin in the near future. the ecb ’ s accommodative policy stance has been a key driver of domestic demand during the recovery, and that stance remains in place. as laid out in the ecb ’ s forward guidance, monetary policy will continue to support the economy and respond to future risks in line with our price stability mandate. and we will continuously monitor the side effects of our policies. but it is clear that monetary policy could achieve its goal faster and with fewer side effects if other policies were supporting growth alongside it. one key element here is euro area fiscal policy, which is not just about the aggregate stance of public spending, but also its composition. investment is a particularly important part of the 3 / 5 bis central bankers'speeches response to today ’ s challenges, because it is both today ’ s demand

further out of line with the increasingly positive economic fundamentals of the euro area, as well as international balance of payments positions. in march consumer price inflation, as measured by increases in the harmonised index of consumer prices ( hicp ), rose to 2. 1 %, up from 2. 0 % in the previous month. this was due to developments in both oil prices and exchange rates. a moderation in 12 - month inflation rates can be expected in the course of 2000, reflecting the decline in oil prices from around mid - march and base effects dampening the increase in inflation rates compared with the same month a year earlier. however, what matters for monetary policy are the trends underlying the outlook for price stability in the medium term. in this respect, the depreciation of the exchange rate of the euro, until it is reversed, will increase the risks to price stability in the medium term. these risks have to be taken seriously in the light of the current strong upswing. other important factors which will have a crucial impact on the outlook for price stability over the medium term are a continuation of currently moderate wage developments, a further fiscal consolidation in line with the stability and growth pact and the further implementation of structural reforms in product and labour markets. the governing council would like its message to be very clear : price stability in the euro area will be maintained and, as i already said last week, the citizens of europe can be confident that their savings and pensions will keep their value over time. price stability will help to turn the current upswing into a long period of high economic growth and falling unemployment, and it will strengthen the currency. finally, i should like to inform you about two items related to the field of statistics. first, the governing council has decided in the near future to publish a comprehensive description of the statistical information collected and compiled by the escb, mainly in the areas of money and banking statistics, securities issues, interest rates, balance of payments and financial accounts, with pointers to possible developments in these areas. second, the governing council has adopted a revised guideline and a revised recommendation on “ the statistical reporting requirements of the ecb in the field of balance of payments statistics, the international reserves template and international investment position statistics ”. both the guideline and the recommendation will be published in the official journal of the european communities in due course.