The year 2010 will see a banking industry comprising of banks that are not only stronger in their capital structure, but also with greater focus regarding their direction and strategies. In this regard, I would also like to state that there are several followup steps that need to be and are being taken by state-owned banks.
However, when seen from a historical perspective, a further notable achievement of the euro area economy during the recent period relates also to the relatively moderate impact of oil price increases up to now on underlying domestic inflationary trends and, in particular, on wage developments.