In a nutshell, amounting to 3.7% of GDP the budget deficit was almost halved last year, while the current account deficit was cut by one fifth and was fully covered by foreign direct investment.
But to take it forward, it is crucial to be more ambitious and thus to ensure a better balance between risk reduction through implementation of the regulatory agenda and supervisory priorities, and risk sharing through the establishment of a common fiscal backstop in the banking union. 1 I would like to thank Malte Jahning and Fédéric Holm-Hadulla for their contributions to this speech.