Monetary policy should be supported by an adequate fiscal policy in order to avoid a large risk of overburdening monetary policy. This is not only true for accession countries however. Some concern already has been expressed towards some Member States of the present euro area and I would like to voice it again.
By the second quarter of 2008, many of the region's economies were slowing, and growth in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan – small, open economies particularly sensitive to shifts in global conditions – had ground to a halt. In September and October 2008, as you know, the global financial crisis intensified dramatically.