I would like here to content myself with pointing out the importance that wage formation also functions well in such a strong cyclical upswing as the present. Higher pay increases than there is room for in the space created by productivity growth and the inflation target lead to monetary policy having to be made more stringent and demand being dampened. If the monetary policy is made more stringent altogether too late, there is a risk that inflation expectations will again arise and persist. The consequences would then be a longer period with a stringent monetary policy. In order to avoid this, it is important that monetary policy reacts in time when, for instance, high pay increases are considered to threaten the inflation target. However, above all it is important that the social partners act so that we do not end up in such a position. Why should monetary policy be concerned about asset prices? Another challenge for monetary policy just now is to assess the consequences that the greatly increasing share prices will have for the Swedish economy and inflation. In the big city areas, property prices have also increased markedly. There are a number of reasons for the Riksbank to take into BIS Review 33/20009  2  account the development of asset prices. In the first place, asset prices affect the factors that determine inflation during the forecast period.
The decision is not very popular, but it is necessary to ensure the economic efficiency of OSAGO. At the same time, we are looking for new growth areas together with the market. In particular, this is about developing life and medical insurance. We also had to take supervisory measures. As a recent example licence of a major market participant was restricted for two weeks. Certainly, the licence restriction of such a large player was an outstanding event for the market. As a regulator we realised the importance of such a step, but we consider it necessary for the benefit of consumers to implement all the available measures to restore order and eliminate unlawful practices such as imposing services, non-applying bonus-malus ratio, etc. We have established a consumer right protection service, and we pay special attention to processing claims. We will try to make the process of lodging claims convenient for citizens and will try to respond to claims in an efficient manner. One of our important objectives is to work out a concept of financial literacy. We also consider accessibility of financial services to be an important condition for proper functioning of the financial market. Another field of our concern is the development of the national payment system. In less than a year after the decision was taken, a processing and clearing centre was created and interRussian transactions of international payment systems were transferred there. Currently, we are actively developing our own payment card.