Exports of Italian capital have also increased, however. One of the reasons for the gradualness with which monetary policy has been eased has been to ensure favourable conditions for foreign investment in Italy, taking into account the continual, structural outflow of Italian capital.
As Economic and Monetary Union draws closer and national monetary policy’s room for manoeuvre gradually narrows to the point of disappearing, the macroeconomic equilibrium of each country will come to depend increasingly on budgetary, incomes and structural policies. In the absence of changes in the relative values of currencies, imbalances will impinge on competitiveness, production and employment.