In addition, financial integration enhances competition in each locality since savers and investors are not constrained to deal only with local suppliers of financial services, but can search for the most efficient supplier in the entire integrated area. 6. It is uncontroversial to suggest that financial integration within a given jurisdiction will be beneficial for the economy as a whole. Few would question that financial integration within the United States, for example, has made a positive contribution to that country’s economy. And, I am sure that the increasingly comprehensive financial linkages across provinces in Mainland China, would make the mobilisation of the high savings and the allocation of capital there more efficient, leading to sustained economic dynamism. But the benefits of financial integration need not occur only within a single jurisdiction. Observing from afar the process of economic integration in Europe, it is clear to me that financial integration across national borders will make a positive contribution to the region’s economic development. But I shall leave it to other speakers in our conference, particularly those with first-hand experience in Europe, to elaborate on that point. 7. Here in Asia, financial integration across economies has not proceeded as far as within either North America or Europe, even though the degree of economic, in particular trade, integration within the region has been rising sharply. As I have pointed out elsewhere, in the financial sphere Asian economies are less integrated with each other than with economies in the rest of the world.
Christine Lagarde: ECB press conference - introductory statement Introductory statement by Ms Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank, and Mr Luis de Guindos, Vice-President of the European Central Bank, Frankfurt am Main, 9 September 2021. * * * Good afternoon, the Vice-President and I welcome you to our press conference. The rebound phase in the recovery of the euro area economy is increasingly advanced. Output is expected to exceed its pre-pandemic level by the end of the year. With more than 70 per cent of European adults fully vaccinated, the economy has largely reopened, allowing consumers to spend more and companies to increase production. While rising immunity to the coronavirus means that the impact of the pandemic is now less severe, the global spread of the Delta variant could yet delay the full reopening of the economy. The current increase in inflation is expected to be largely temporary and underlying price pressures are building up only slowly. The inflation outlook in our new staff projections has been revised slightly upwards, but in the medium term inflation is foreseen to remain well below our two per cent target. Financing conditions for firms, households and the public sector have remained favourable since our previous quarterly assessment in June. Favourable financing conditions are essential for the economy to continue its recovery and to offset the negative impact of the pandemic on inflation.