The Maastricht budgetary criteria, which are criticised from various sides - some arguing that the entry requirements are too stringent, others believing them to be too lenient - are based on practical experience and, put in a longer historical perspective, are too lenient rather than overly stringent. This is another reason why these criteria must be stringently applied. 3.
We have seen the following: •  Higher growth;  •  Lower inflation;  •  Lower-than-target fiscal deficit;  •  Ample liquidity and credit (12.4% M3 growth and 17.6% credit growth);  •  Good loan quality and capital base of banks; and  •  Robust external payments position characterized by  BIS central bankers’ speeches  1  •  Current account surplus;  •  Comfortable GIR; and  •  Manageable external debt profile and debt burden  We will be discussing in some detail the factors that influenced the outturn for these macroeconomic variables in the next few slides.