I think the gains to be achieved by a combination of reforms and labor market adjustments are going to be more permanent and will provide a basis for reducing unemployment and improving expert performance and sustaining growth in a way that is more sound and more permanent.

I am not a politician but I have dedicated the biggest part of my professional life to economic policy both in Greece and Europe.

We must all assume out responsibilities to take the country forward.

I am personally convinced - and I think the Greek people share this belief in a fundamental way - that we can achieve fiscal consolidation more effectively and we can restore competitiveness in a more fundamental and permanent way within the euro area than outside.

My job will not be easy but I am convinced the problems will be solved in a quicker and more efficient way if there is unity and consensus.

The financial crisis in our country is not a passing storm. Given the size of the problems, our national effort will not be completed in 2012. It will take many years and will require the efforts and insistence of several governments.

The ECB's interventions in sovereign bond markets should not be perceived or interpreted as a 'freebie' for governments. They are temporary.