4  Current assessment of economic development  Forecasting risk and uncertainty is currently of particular interest to central bankers, as forecast uncertainty has reached a comparatively high level. Because the scale and speed of the current economic downturn is unlike anything seen in the last few decades, forecast uncertainty can at present be incorporated into econometric analyses to a limited extent only.
The Italian government had taken measures which would lead to a reduction in the deficit below the reference value of 3%. The Spanish government had just embarked on a series of reforms re-dressing long-standing problems in the labour market and in the banking sector.