Even in that case, more time will be needed before clear signs of recovery can be confirmed and prices are expected to continue declining gradually in fiscal years 2001 and 2002. This outlook clearly involves a high degree of uncertainty and there exist both upside and downside risks to the baseline scenario.
Afterwards I would like to give you some facts about the German economy. Finally, I will try to spell out the European view of how the fundamentals must be set for sustainable growth to take place. 1.