In that sense, the ECB’s response with unconventional measures is completely logical. When unconventional measures are applied, it is normal to have different views about their effect, including the possibility of a “Japanese” scenario. It would be wrong, however, to put the focus solely on monetary policy without taking into account what is being or not being done to address the global economic uncertainty, and also in the areas of structural reforms and fiscal policy. You have said many times that in order to be effective, the politicians’ attempts to stimulate the economy must be aimed at structural areas, like the labour market, pension reforms and education. What room for action do Bulgarian politicians have when these three areas are concerned? Do you believe that there are unused opportunities? Such opportunities exist, but they are associated with complex and sometimes time-consuming measures. They are not limited only to the labour market, pension reforms and education, but also extend to areas like health care, defence, the modernization of the technical and social infrastructure. Some steps in these fields require serious public resources. It is a good sign that they are implemented within an overall disciplined fiscal framework. Quite a few economists say that the 2% inflation goal, set by the ECB, is a thing of the past given the ageing population and structurally transforming technologies. Do you believe there are grounds to correct this goal? 2/3  BIS central bankers' speeches  There are grounds to conduct a strategic review of the monetary policy’s goals.
Most notably, as the SVC integrates several processes, it is fast, efficient and safe. In equity trading, “straight-through processing” has technically reduced “time to settlement” to as little as four seconds, though in market practice the settlement cycle for equities is three days. Domestically, the system is inexpensive and the price of trading has decreased significantly in recent years. “Straight-through processing” has also been applied to and strengthened the Swiss repo market, where not a single “fail”, i.e. a settlement that is one or more days late, has occurred in the interbank repo transactions since May 2009. In terms of automation, the integrated Swiss approach compares favourably to other systems of its kind. Despite the omnipresence of electronic systems worldwide, only one third of all repo transactions in Europe are in fact handled by automatic trading systems such as BrokerTec, Eurex Repo or MTS. In several national markets, most steps are still performed manually.8 As the Swiss value chain was built in the mid-1990s, it was a frontrunner in the move towards straight-through processing. It is still a “state-of-the-art” set-up, but this is no time to be complacent in view of the ever-increasing strengths of competing systems. Given its high level of performance, it is interesting to observe that the Swiss value chain is the result of a typically Swiss form of collaboration, known as “Gemeinschaftswerk”. The principle of “Gemeinschaftswerk” has been vital in shaping and maintaining Switzerland’s FMI.