price stability in the euro area. this means that monetary policy now has an interest - rate level at a record low, which - taking due account of the low longer - term interest rates and the high degree of price stability - creates a sound foundation for sustained economic growth in the euro area. whether - and how quickly - new dynamic economic activity develops and new employment is created on that basis will mainly depend on whether the other areas of national policy, and pay policy, provide adequate scope for this, and on the will to undertake the necessary structural reforms. by safeguarding the stability of the euro, the escb is also taking account of the fact that there is now greater responsibility for the global monetary system. that is because an internally stable euro represents a major contribution to the stability of the international financial markets. - it gives certainty to investors for their planning and decision - making, - it encourages longer - term investment decisions - and it can thus reduce short - term volatility. only if the euro remains stable on a lasting basis can it also perform its role as an anchor in the new erm ii ( european exchange mechanism ii ) and serve as a benchmark for the countries in transition. however, a euro with a fluctuating internal value and which lacks international confidence and credibility could easily become a strain on the process of european integration. the enduring stability of the euro is therefore a matter of common interest for all the countries in europe. iv but, in the long term, price stability cannot be safeguarded by monetary policy alone. monetary policy must, above all, be supported by other policy areas. in the european monetary union, however, these other policy areas are operating in what is, from the historical perspective, a new kind of environment. on the one hand, in the euro area we now have a single supranational monetary policy, with identical conditions in all the participating countries. on the other hand, there are 11 - and, in a few years, probably even more - largely sovereign nation states - with differing regulatory and social systems, and with differing legal and tax systems. in future, even more than before, each country participating in monetary union will have to be able to cushion differing movements in the business cycle and in growth and employment by the strength of their own efforts and will have to be able to make appropriate adjustments. more flexibility in the product and labour markets is essential for that, particularly as the euro introduces more transparency, and therefore more competition, for all

- central bankers'speeches safe, secure, and efficient payment system, we are pushing for digital payments. this includes the use of innovative digital payment rails, such as instapay, pesonet, and qr ph. building on these payment systems, we have also rolled out bills pay ph, which you can use to pay your bills, palengqr which you can use to pay your market vendors, and egov pay which you can use, if you are a taxpayer here, to pay the government. these programs have helped us surpass our goal of digitalizing at least half of total retail payments. as of end - december 2023, 52 percent of these payments were done digitally. working with the bank for international settlements, we are trying to connect our fast payment system with those of our asean ( association of southeast asian nations ) neighbors as well as india, saudi arabia, and other countries with fast payment systems. this platform is called project nexus. once this is in place in two years, this platform will make cross - border retail transactions more secure, more efficient, and less costly. meanwhile, we are painfully aware that our geography makes us especially vulnerable to climate change. just last week, we witnessed typhoon carina that made this vulnerability all too evident. hence, we have issued guidelines for the management of risks related to environmental, social, and governance issues. at the same time, we have developed a taxonomy for banks for sustainable finance. this will allow banks to tag each of their activities as environmentally or socially sustainable. economic fragmentation let me now turn to you, the consular corps for help. we need your help for one increasingly important concern - that of economic fragmentation. for decades after world war ii, increasing globalization was the norm. most governments believed in its benefits, and thus, most wanted to be part of it. but for almost two decades now, globalization has been losing ground to global fragmentation. in recent years, fragmentation has been fueled by the global financial crisis, trade wars, trade disruptions caused by the russia - ukraine conflict. as we all know, global trade is now on its back foot. according to the world bank, the average annual number of new trade agreements in the 2020s is less than half of that of the 2000s. in contrast, the number of new trade - restricting measures in 2022 and 2023 has tripled relative to 2019. this has led to a slowdown in the growth of trade. it appeared from 2020 to