Those strategies often involve investing greater proportions of funds in financial investments, as opposed to housing, increasing the need to be well-informed about the risks involved. BIS Review 44/2003  1  Clearly, unsound investment and borrowing decisions can have severe consequences for individuals and families.
Economic and monetary developments  After the positive developments in the first half of 2004, more recent data have indicated that growth dynamics moderated somewhat in the second half of the year. Real GDP growth in the third quarter of 2004 is estimated to have been 0.3% quarter on quarter, following growth rates of 0.7 % and 0.5 % in the previous two quarters.