It was able to consolidate its position as a significant international financial centre, and thus remains an important pillar of Switzerland’s economy. Stiff global competition, meanwhile, is still forcing the financial sector to increase its efficiency and lower costs. The days when banks and insurance companies were reliable job machines are gone and will probably not return in the foreseeable future. The challenges I mentioned - from securing the social security institutions to standing our ground in a global environment - will be major issues for the Swiss economy, politics and the public in the coming years, and they will put Switzerland’s adaptability to the test. Allow me now to comment briefly on a few of these challenges. 4. Current challenges  As in most industrialised countries, demographics create a need for action in Switzerland, too. The population is steadily aging and grows only slowly. It is thanks to immigration that it is rising at all. We will therefore face a massive increase in social security expenditure in the decades ahead. At the same time, economic growth in Switzerland is weak. This constellation threatens to destabilise public finances. There are solutions, yet none of them come for free. BIS Review 69/2004  3  The first two solutions, i.e. cutting back social benefits and/or increasing social contributions, are not very popular. In the first instance, the people are opposed to such measures. As to the second solution, it does not make economic sense to further increase the already heavy tax burden.
Tarisa Watanagase: Thailand’s economic outlook and challenges under the volatile financial environment Keynote address by Dr Tarisa Watanagase, Governor of the Bank of Thailand, at the International Herald Tribune and Citigold Wealth Management Economic Forum 2007, Bangkok, 19 September 2007. *  *  *  Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, It is a pleasure to be here today to give a keynote address at the economic forum hosted by the International Herald Tribune and the CitiGold Wealth Management. I also like to thank the hosts for this important opportunity to share with you my perspectives on the Thai economy moving forward, especially in the global environment of greater financial volatility and uncertainties. I believe that the media, local and international, provides a very important two-way avenue for the central bank to communicate our views and the rationale underlying our policies to the public at large, and to receive feedbacks, positive as well as negative. The topic of my talk today is “Thailand’s Economic Outlook and Challenges under the Volatile Financial Environment.” I will divide my address into three parts. First, I would like to highlight the key risks stemming from the recent global developments and outlook. In this connection, I would briefly touch on the implications of the US sub-prime market on the Thai economy. Second, I like to focus on recent key economic developments in Thailand and the outlook for 2008.