Beyond this, at a time when savers seem to be turning towards more liquid products, how can the industry cater for savers’ longer-term financing needs and for the financing requirements of other economic agents? Should these needs and requirements be taken into consideration in the way financial products are marketed? This will be the theme of our second session. III. Lastly, what role should regulators play? Regulators carefully monitor changes in household savings patterns and the marketing conditions of financial products. 2  BIS central bankers’ speeches  The evolution of household savings decisions can impact the soundness of financial institutions. In fact, any sharp switch from one form of saving to another can potentially destabilise the financial system and therefore the economy as a whole. The same is true for badly calibrated financial products that can have negative consequences on the profitability of institutions, especially when the remuneration of the product clearly deviates from prevailing market interest rates. As regards product marketing, it is, I repeat, a key factor in consumer confidence, particularly with respect to longer-term investments which play such an important economic role. The ACP and the AMF will make sure that these longer-term investment opportunities are preserved and, in this context, the development of aggressive and abusive sales practices is not acceptable. More generally, we will ensure that credit institutions and insurance entities behave prudently in their quest to gather client resources and rigorously in their respect of consumer protection laws.
Employment developments were also influenced by substantial labour inflows from central Europe following EU enlargement in 2004. Strong growth in labour productivity is not due to any substantial increase in the real capital behind each hour worked, but is related to a considerably more efficient utilisation of labour and capital. In addition, growth in labour productivity reflected a marked fall in sickness absence in 2004. The national accounts show more moderate productivity growth in recent quarters. However, since the figures are provisional and can often be revised considerably, we should be cautious about reaching any conclusions. The strong rate of growth has only to a limited extent fed through to a higher rise in prices for consumer goods and services. The rise in prices has none the less accelerated in recent months. In August, the year-on-year rise in the CPI-ATE was 1.8 per cent. Underlying inflation has long been projected to be between 1½ and 2 per cent in the second half of this year. The year-on-year rise in the total consumer price index (CPI) has been just under ½ per cent in recent months. This is because electricity prices have been substantially lower this year than in 2006, when unusually high electricity prices due to low precipitation levels pushed up the year-on-year rise in the CPI close to the inflation target. In recent months, electricity prices have been at their lowest level since 2002.