I’m not trying to tar all these funds with the same brush, but I would say everyone should be aware of all the risks involved in investing, including liquidity risks. The bottom line on the reform package is that the risks of financial transactions will be priced more appropriately. This will make funding and market liquidity marginally more expensive.
In the first quarter of this year, the number of hours worked fell by 3.8 per cent compared with the previous year, a more pronounced decline than that in employment (1 per cent), partly the effect of the slowdown in productive activity and widespread recourse to the Wage Supplementation Fund, which more than tripled overall compared with the first three months of 2008.