Consumption should also strengthen further over time, in line with developments in real disposable income, as employment conditions continue to improve. This outlook is also reflected in the new ECB staff macroeconomic projections. The projections foresee average annual real GDP growth in a range between 2.1% and 2.9% in 2007 and between 1.9% and 2.9% in 2008. In comparison with the December Eurosystem staff projections, the ranges projected for real GDP growth in 2007 and 2008 have been revised upwards, largely reflecting the strength of GDP growth in the second half of 2006 and the lower energy prices, which, if sustained, would have a positive impact on real disposable income. In the Governing Council’s view, the risks surrounding this favourable outlook for economic growth are broadly balanced over the shorter term. At longer horizons, risks lie mainly on the downside. The main risks relate to the possibility of a renewed increase in oil prices, fears of a rise in protectionist pressures and concerns about possible disorderly developments owing to global imbalances. As regards price developments, according to Eurostat’s flash estimate, annual HICP inflation was 1.8% in February 2007, unchanged from January 2007. The fall in headline inflation rates since the summer of 2006 has been predominantly due to lower energy prices. Looking ahead, last year’s volatility in energy prices will lead to significant base effects, affecting the profile of annual inflation rates this year.

The survey performed by the Financial Stability Institute on the use of innovative technology2 reveals that within data collection, supervisory agencies across the world use applications for supervisory reporting, data management and virtual assistance, while within data analytics, applications are used for market surveillance, misconduct analysis, as well as micro-prudential and macro-prudential supervision. To facilitate the contact with the industry, the National Bank has recently developed an Innovation Gateway, as a platform where firms can raise questions and get answers concerning the regulatory framework. The main purpose of the Gateway is to facilitate, encourage, and support innovation in financial services, by providing information to all firms willing to pursue innovative business activities. It provides a clearly visible interface to our website and offers an insight view on issues related to application of new innovative technologies. We are pleased that through this channel, launched a couple of weeks ago, we have already received several queries from fintech firms coming from EU member states as well as local fintech company that intends to offer new services in the payments area. Our internal expert group will interact with these entities to properly understand their business model, the benefits they bring, potential risks and asses how they fit in the current regulatory framework. One of the main priorities of the Hub in the following period will be to develop a Financial Services Digitization Strategy. The main goal of the Strategy will be to provide an enabling environment, including open and affordable access to core digital services and infrastructures.