In the first seven months of 2018, Romania benefited of 2.7 million EUR in European funds and past experiences show there is a learning cycle in managing European funds and their disbursement increases towards the end of the Multiannual Financial Framework. We expect the investment financing to increase in 2019 and 2020. The European Investment Bank and its investment-financing arm, European Investment Fund, have a pronounced contribution to closing the financing gap of investments in the context of economic downturn, 1/3  BIS central bankers' speeches  providing the sources for investment finance, the expertise and the support for entrepreneurs. The recurrent themes for Romania’s development needs are as present as ever in the public space, and they should trigger a higher implication on all levels of decision, from the private sector to the public management authorities, to support and extend the investments for sustainable economic growth. The shift from consumption to investments, the reliable and qualitative infrastructure, the deficit of skilled labor and the gap in the transition from education to employment, the good governance and accountability framework in institutional investments, as well as the need to enhance the EU funds absorption rate, all these are, at the moment, the challenges that Romania, faces on its pathway to sustainable growth. In this context, I would like to point out the fact that the results of the European Investment Bank survey are in line with the NBR’s evaluations of the financial sector, the key aspect being the access to finance and sustainable investments.

When a longer period is used for the comparison (e.g. the last ten or fifteen years) the conclusions are the same. In this context, some economies have implemented foreign exchange measures, including interventions to mitigate the appreciation of their currencies. While these actions may be desirable in certain situations – Chile has actually used them in the past and they are part of its policy toolkit – implementing them requires a careful evaluation of both the benefits and costs to the country. These measures are appropriate to correct an over-reaction in the value of the currency against its medium- and long-term fundamentals or as a way to build an international reserve position, providing greater safety in the event of a sharp contraction of external financing. These benefits are difficult to quantify objectively, but it is reasonable to think that the lower the availability of reserves or the further away the real exchange rate is from its long-term trend, the greater the benefits. At the same time, we must always bear the costs associated with these interventions in mind. First, there is the direct financial cost, because the reserves are invested in highly liquid and safe instruments, but whose interest rates are lower than that of the local instruments financing their acquisition. This generates a significant cost that eats into the  4  BIS central bankers’ speeches  Central Bank’s net worth. Moreover, it is important to preserve the flexibility of the exchange rate in the Chilean economy because it facilitates accommodating external shocks.