The direct impact of the financial market disruptions on growth in Germany will, in our view, be limited. In making my second point, having discussed the macroeconomic risks, I am directly revisiting the financial markets. The last few days, in particular, have made it clear to us here that we are essentially dealing with two overlapping developments.
One of these developments is characterised by the fact that the problems emerging in the third quarter are still having an impact. An end to the necessary adjustments in the US real estate market is still not in sight, for example. If anything, the incidence of defaults on variable-interest mortgage loans is likely to grow further.