I see great benefits in broadening the funding base of the European economy, where marketbased financing complements the traditional banking system. Market-based financing can be seen as a spare-tire which helps satisfy demands for financing of the real economy, especially in times of sizeable deleveraging pressures in the banking sector.
Several political parties have spoken in favour of an extraordinary wage boost for large or small groups of public-sector employees via a special pool of funds earmarked for this purpose. I would like to issue a strong warning against making wage bargaining in the public-sector labour market a parliamentary issue at this stage.