2  BIS Review 24/2005  equally necessary to ensure high and sustainable long-term growth and prosperity lie beyond the purview of monetary policy. They depend on sound fiscal policy and comprehensive structural reforms. These policies, in my opinion, are among the most powerful policy tools for addressing and preventing problems that may arise within a currency area.
The need for structural reforms and sound fiscal policies – two mutually reinforcing strategies – is not limited to members of a monetary union, but it applies to all countries. Flexible markets are a universal need in an open, science- and technology-driven, highly competitive and rapidly changing global economic environment.