The credit conditions facing emerging economies have tightened, which is causing financial, exchange-rate and inflationary difficulties in those where vulnerabilities built up during the boom. Special attention deserve the economies with high external financing needs, including not only emerging ones but also some in peripheral Europe. Finally, there is still the risk associated with the complex fiscal and financial situation of the Eurozone. Add to this the  4  BIS central bankers’ speeches  intensifying geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, which could significantly affect the oil price, causing negative effects on world growth and higher pressures on fuel inflation. In Chile, although the economic slowdown is underway, it is possible that final demand, particularly private consumption, continues to adjust at a slower-than-desired pace, increasing the risk of higher inflation and a constant or growing current-account deficit. The risk of a wider current-account deficit would increase in a scenario of further deteriorated terms of trade. However, as we have pointed out before, this deficit comes largely from investment flows into the tradable sector – especially mining – financed by foreign direct investment. The recent slowdown of investment and the exchange rate depreciation are some of the adjustments needed. Moreover, the evidence shown in a box in this Report suggests that the mining investment cycle is maturing. This will moderate domestic demand and pressures over internal resources, the labor market and imports of capital goods. Meanwhile, the startup of mining projects has driven volume exports up.

The artificial intelligence and chatbots you are developing will help us respond more effectively to the public’s needs; big data, machine learning and biometrics will help us to better prevent fraud; blockchain technology and smart contracts will help to optimise transactions; and your APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) and open source technologies will help to make financial technologies more interoperable. When I think, in turn, of what the Banque de France and ACPR can contribute, I’d say this: stable, reliable and agile regulation. Stable because we have a strong anchoring in European regulation: this means that FinTechs established in France can offer their services in all countries in the European Union – it’s what we call “the European passport”. Reliable, because we strive to limit potential risks, so that innovation is always synonymous with customer protection, payment security, IT security and financial stability. But also agile, because innovation must not be stifled by administrative red tape; that’s why we are developing regulations that are based on objectives and principles rather than on rules, and that are proportionate to the scale of the risks. New FinTech players also help to stimulate competition with digital incumbents, and in particular with the initiatives launched by the US web giants. The industrial stakes are high: we need to foster this active competition, which is by far preferable to monopolies, even technological ones. Stable, reliable and agile regulation is a basis for confidence. And confidence is a basis for success in innovation. We want to build this regulation with your active participation.