Against this background, the G20 Leaders have made “external sustainability” a key item on the G20 agenda for 2011. The global imbalance debate contains a host of issues. How much emphasis should be put on adjusting current account imbalances per se? What are the causes of current account imbalances?
I should also like to thank Hans Blankert for my pleasant cooperation with him in my former position, and I should like to wish his successor, Jacques Schraven, every success. Since 1 January 1999 the euro has become a reality. As you know, the euro area experienced a slowdown in economic growth in the early part of the year.