Jean-Claude Trichet: Press briefing on the “ECB Financial Stability Review” Opening remarks by Mr Jean-Claude Trichet, President of the European Central Bank, Frankfurt am Main, 15 December 2004. *  *  *  Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to this special press briefing on the publication of the ECB’s Financial Stability Review 2004.
To restore competitiveness and remove the imbalances, a dual agenda needs to be concurrently implemented: first, a multi-year program of fiscal consolidation, which can reduce risk premia and crowd-in private investment, raising the growth potential of the economy; second, bold and wide-ranging institutional reforms in the public sector and structural reforms in product and labor markets, which can enhance productivity and raise the employment rate.