and accountants, to ensure that malta ’ s financial centre remains synonymous with integrity, efficiency and reasonable costs. i emphasize this point because the recent rapid growth in the depth and breadth of the financial sector, and the expectation of further expansion, has sometimes given rise to behaviour - such as the use of aggressive methods to induce prospective customers to buy financial products and services and the resort to misleading advertising - which stretches the interpretation of our laws and regulations close to their limit. there should be no doubt in anybody ’ s mind that the cbm and the mfsa, acting in the common interest, will continue to exercise their respective responsibilities with diligence and rigour to ensure the integrity and stability of the financial system. in conclusion, i would like to wish mediterranean bank success in their malta venture and to express the hope that their presence here will also serve to enhance the reputation of our financial centre.

feeling the pinch and the pain. for many, surging inflation is currently the most pressing problem in their daily lives. bringing inflation under control is therefore now the number one priority. in this situation, all eyes are focused on monetary policy, and rightly so. whilst it may not be able to lower energy prices or make food cheaper, what it most certainly can do is prevent high inflation from becoming entrenched. this is what could happen if households, enterprises and wage bargainers expect higher inflation rates not just now but also in the future. monetary policy in the euro area therefore needs to step up to the plate. the ecb governing council initiated the lift - off in interest rates in july, and raised rates further in september and october. these decisive interest rate steps are important for achieving price stability. however, short - term real interest rates remain very low. in other words, monetary policy is not yet sufficiently dampening inflation. further steps along the path to monetary policy normalisation will probably still need to be taken. dithering carries the risk of having to tighten monetary policy even more severely further down the line. this is why it would be wrong to hold back on further steps towards normalisation for fear of a downturn. on the contrary : unrestrained inflation is itself a drag on the economy. the longer inflation remains high, the more of a strain it places on consumption and investment. and the greater the risk of it becoming entrenched at a high level in the medium term. of course, the campaign to rein in inflation will not be altogether pain - free. it is likely to temporarily be an additional dampener on growth. but the main culprits behind the economic weakness are the supply bottlenecks caused by the pandemic and the war. ladies and gentlemen, i make no secret of the fact that the path to price stability will not be a sprint but a marathon. monetary policy measures only really take full effect after a time lag. to make rapid progress on this route, fiscal policy can also play a part. it is an enduring principle that sound public finances facilitate stability - oriented monetary policy. however, there are special challenges to overcome given current developments surrounding the war in ukraine and the energy crisis. as far as they are concerned, i believe that exceptional programmes, such as the ad hoc measures to ease the burden presented by extreme energy prices, are also justified. however, the decisive factor here is how the individual measures are designed. the