Looking ahead, some of the recent strength in private demand might, as I noted earlier, prove to be temporary. But at the same time, the contribution of public spending to growth in demand is likely to increase over the year ahead.
Banks have invested heavily in their processing systems and may be reluctant to renounce their legacy systems. Further international integration and standardisation would naturally bring additional benefits. We already see global integration and service provision in the area of credit and payment cards – even though problems remain in the credit card industry, in particular their pricing.