Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
Thank you. (Operator Instructions) Your first question is from the line of Jonathan Fell with Deutsche Bank.
Jonathan Fell - Deutsche Bank
I have a couple of questions actually. First of all, just to clarify your remarks on the buybacks. It doesn't looks though the current credit situation has impacted the repurchases to date, but it sounds like you are expecting in the fourth quarter that the rates will be lower than it's been.
Can you give us any sort of guidance at all on exactly how much lower the rates of repurchase will be? I mean is the question at the moment that you can't buy any back at all, or do you expect at least to be able to continue to do some once the closed period ends. Secondly, on EU, I mean if we were consistent in saying the outlook should improve next year and pricing is strong, how much of a concern is it in particular at the lower-end markets like France, Spain and Italy? If the industry doesn't move pricing up quite soon, governments might do it for you given the increasing holes in their budgets?
Hermann Waldemer
Okay. So let me start with your question to the share repurchase program. This is an ongoing program. We will keep ongoing with our share repurchase program. What I wanted to say is my remarks is that we are actually in the good and comfortable position, in that we are ahead of the schedule and that we now can simply watch and see what the financials and what the market situation is out there in the financial markets. I mean, we all have witnessed the turbulences up and down everyday. This is simply what we look for and what we watch out for, but let me put it this way.
A company of our strength with liquidity, our balance sheet is, of course, probably as always amongst the ones that can access those markets first. It's just we have the comfortable position of doing what's necessary and best for both the company and the shareholders. So that's on the share repurchase.
On the other question EU, yes, governments are also in budget season right now, but I can tell you that in neither one of the three countries that you quoted France, Spain or Italy, there is really a discussion out there about significant excise increases, so I don't see those, and I hope also that this won't change from here to the end of the year.
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