The strength of consumption has been supported by a sustained increase in formal employment, a moderate decline in unemployment, and a significant expansion in consumer lending. Gross fixed investment kept rising, with machinery and equipment showing higher growth rates than construction.
The objective, then, is to manage these risks to an acceptable level. The second element is the set of policy instruments. Here again, the position is much more complicated than it is for the inflation targeting framework. The potential instruments of financial stability policy are many and varied. One component I have already mentioned: the central bank's role in liquidity management.