and restructuring in the banking system, enabling it to withstand the crisis and the flight of deposits, and ensuring that it now has adequate capital, provisions and collateral, i. e. that the necessary ( though not sufficient ) conditions are in place for the banking system to address the major problem of non - performing loans. a halting of the increase ( and even a slight decrease ) in the volume of non - performing loans in the second and third quarters of 2016, for the first time since 2014. a rebound of the economy in the second and third quarters of 2016, making it reasonable to anticipate a positive growth rate for the year as a whole, for the first time since 2014. these stabilisation policies in order to correct the unsustainable twin deficits inevitably came at an economic and social cost : even more recession, job and income losses. but as argued above, these sacrifices have not been wasted. 1 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches greece is currently on the road to recovery. it is therefore more topical than ever that the reforms that will be put forward in order to keep greece on the track of a new, extrovert growth model will also safeguard social cohesion. this is a prerequisite to ensure that reforms will be politically sustainable, a key finding of this report. the analysis of the 2016 transition report draws, inter alia, on the third round of the life in transition survey ( lits iii ), a household survey conducted by the ebrd and the world bank. crucially, the life in transition survey also covered greece, to which a whole chapter of the respective report is dedicated. according to the life in transition survey, the impact of the economic crisis on greek households has been deep and widespread. lastly, the bank of greece has repeatedly underlined the importance of investment in the revival of the economy. therefore, tackling successfully the obstacles greek firms are currently facing in the business environment, according to the key findings of the business environment and enterprise performance survey ( beeps ) for greece, will induce investment, boosting in turn the economic prospects of greece. i am looking forward to today ’ s presentations and i am confident that they will contain many useful insights for greece that will contribute to the constructive discussions on the way forward. 2 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches

further in 2021, to 19. 6 percent in december from 19. 0 percent in november, also backed by government programs, with their share in total thus widening to 72. 4 percent. nowadays, as many other eu member states, romania is preoccupied by the geopolitical and energy situation and their considerable impact on inflation. inflationary shocks on the energy components of the consumption basket hit repeatedly throughout second half of 2021. these were partly offset by a government support scheme, in effect from november 2021. nevertheless, the energy component still accounted for more than half of the overall annual inflation rate by the end of 2021. it is a fact now that approximately 85 percent of the cpi has root in the energy price surge. therefore, the inflation expectations on the 1 - year horizon have risen sharply, reflecting current developments. the positioning of the 2 - year ahead expectations close to the target variation band suggests that the anchoring mechanism is still in place. however, specific measure to address energy situation is a need. uncertainties continue to stem from the evolution of the pandemic as well, given the current wave, triggered by the more contagious omicron variant of the coronavirus although the variant seems to be less virulent. this implies a lower and abating severity of related restrictions, including in many european countries. as always, nbr will continue to use all policy tools to control inflation and to be supportive of the recovery of economic activity. by doing the work on our side, with a “ balancing act ” we also hope to support improvements in firms ’ sentiment with positive effects on longer term economic development. with these in mind, i would like to invite our honored guests and audience to have a fruitful 2 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches discussion. i hope that we will be able to see each other in person at next year ’ s edition. as for now, i trust that this virtual environment proves to be an adequate opportunity for promoting productive debates and exchanges of ideas. please allow me to invite vice - president thomsen to take the floor. thank you for your attention. 3 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches