What is important is that, in either case, if any of the specific measures toward fiscal consolidation are not actually taken, market participants might suddenly change their views at some point. 8  BIS central bankers’ speeches  Fiscal consolidation is currently a common challenge to many advanced countries.
This is because these countries made use of large-scale fiscal spending following the Lehman shock to maintain financial system stability and mitigate the adverse effects on the macro economy. In Europe, fiscal balance is deteriorating not only in those countries with clear symptoms of the sovereign debt problem but also in many other countries.