The weaker this growth, the more exacting and pressing are the demands by international investors for a rapid adjustment of imbalances in the public finances. These countries have no alternative but to map out promptly a path to restoring budgetary equilibrium, with a reallocation of current expenditure and with structural reforms aimed at raising potential output and competitiveness.
These are difficult courses of action and unless coordinated at international level they risk extinguishing the hesitant recovery. The crisis has attenuated, not eliminated, the worrying geographical imbalances in world demand.