By David Barwick – BANGKOK (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member Álvaro Santos Pereira on Tuesday highlighted the resilience of the global economy while acknowledging the need for fiscal consolidation and structural reforms.

Following a panel discussion he had participated in, Pereira, who heads the Bank of Portugal, was asked by media about the possibility of a market crash.

“Nobody knows” such a thing, he indicated, given the difficulty of forecasting market developments.

“What matters for us is that, first of all, the world economy, as the IMF just said today, is resilient,” he continued. “We are expecting more growth this year and the next.”

“We also know that a few countries have to do fiscal consolidation in order to get to a better situation,” he added. “Many others have to do structural reforms.”