That being said, I refuse to discuss a Greek exit from the euro area because we are not working within that framework. We are financing the Greek economy and we are working alongside the IMF and the European Commission to secure an agreement with Athens, with the aim of keeping Greece in the euro area. Should Greece’s debt be restructured?
The first genuinely macro-prudential tool to have been introduced is the counter-cyclical capital buffer that will be gradually implemented as part of Basel III. This buffer will be activated in periods of excessive credit growth, such as the credit booms frequently originating from or associated with housing price bubbles.