BIS Review 164/2009  1  At the same time, it is important to bear in mind the implications which the highly unorthodox measures taken to support and stimulate the economy inevitably entail. They inherently carry considerable risks over the medium and long term. A prime example of such risks is ballooning government debt in many industrial countries.
In addition to already acknowledged, explicit public debt, the bank rescue packages obviously impose an additional, implicit potential burden on the public sector. Transparent and credible strategies are therefore crucial for unwinding and managing the fiscal – and, of course, monetary – policy support measures. Should the policy-making process lose its credibility, this would be reflected in rising risk premiums and interest rates.