On 2 February the Administration announced it was committed to reducing the federal deficit from the $ billion projection for 2004 to $ billion in 2005 and $ billion in 2009. The intention is to lower the ratio of the deficit to GDP to 2 per cent.
It will be fundamentally different from the current reporting system. We are expecting regulations which lead to an increased number of metrics, and which additionally have a finer granularity. Furthermore, lower reporting thresholds and increased reporting frequencies are on the cards. In my opinion, there are two key messages: 1. Banks need to invest in their information technology.