But in the meantime, given that the problem is driven by perceptions of the eurozone, rather than any particular strength of sterling, it is very difficult to see what we in the UK can do directly to resolve it. The weak euro affects us at the macroeconomic level in two ways: it has a dampening effect on our price level; and it reduces net external demand on our economy. To offset these influences - to prevent overall demand growth falling short of underlying capacity growth, causing inflation to fall significantly below our 2½% target - and I remind you it is a symmetrical target - we have had to keep interest rates lower than would otherwise have been necessary, in effect encouraging stronger domestic demand growth, to keep the economy as a whole on track. The risk in this approach, of course, is that we could find it difficult to moderate the pace of domestic demand growth to a sustainable rate as and when the euro recovers. But that’s a bridge we will need to cross when we get there. Now some of you involved in those sectors that are suffering most from the weakness of the euro would - from your own perspective - like us to go further and try more actively to drive the exchange rate down. If I were in your shoes, I’d be tempted to argue that myself. Euphemistically it is suggested that we should “pay more attention to the exchange rate” - than, as I’ve explained, we do already.
It is true that, to the extent that the present imbalance within the economy reflects sterling’s appreciation against the euro, we would have been protected against that. But, with accelerating inflation in the economy as a whole, the price of such protection of the suffering sectors would have been tantamount to real exchange rate appreciation, which would in any event have damaged their competitive position. And, it would not in that case be possible to reverse that effect through exchange rate adjustment. Joining EMU from the start would in fact, as things have turned out, have been a strong form of relaxing our objective for consistently low inflation in the economy as a whole to ease the pressures on the internationally-exposed sectors which I argued against a few moments ago. There are no easy answers so long as our economies continue to diverge. Coping with such tensions as may emerge within the Eurozone - with or without the UK - is likely to be easier in a context of structural, supply-side flexibility and adaptability - which also, as I say, essentially determines the underlying rate at which the economy can expand in the medium and longer-term. The Eurozone started with chronically high unemployment. Some countries still have very high ratios of public debt to GDP. And most face the prospect of an increasing burden on their public finances with ageing populations.