For example, the three Baltic stock markets recently merged with the Scandinavian OMX markets and use a common trading platform. Finally, it is clear that in several new Member States, further improvements in the legal frameworks and market infrastructures may be needed in order to establish more transparent and efficient financial markets.
Domestic demand remains robust, buoyed by our continued strong labour market and higher-than-expected increases in housing sales and prices. But recent developments in financial markets have led to some tightening of credit conditions for Canadian borrowers, which should temper the growth of domestic demand.