At this stage, I will now focus simply on the progress and the unfinished agenda, as it relates to financial integration. Thereafter, I will offer a few comments on the prospects for monetary union. The IMF defines financial integration as a gradual process through which cross-border capital flows increase, financial markets’ comovements become stronger, and product prices and market infrastructure converge to common standards.
Gearing ratios Turning to consideration of housing leverage - that is, the ratio of housing debt to the value of housing assets - Graph 4 in the speech showed that leverage had risen from about 13 per cent to about 20 per cent over the past decade.