15 / 22  BIS central bankers' speeches  16 / 22  BIS central bankers' speeches  As a result, there is now a striking divergence between France and Germany on a number of macroeconomic dimensions: in Germany, the domestic demand-to-GDP ratio is now among the lowest across advanced economies, whereas in France, it is among the highest.
Of course, centrals banks need to stay vigilant and closely monitor inflation developments, so that sudden reactionary policy does not put the brakes on economic recovery. In light of all this, the implications of low natural real interest rates will remain a first-order issue for advanced economy central banks in the post-pandemic period.