negative influence may spread across the board. the bangladesh bank heist in the beginning of this year was the case that abovementioned risk was materialized. for the sound development of fintech, information security is a key. fintech has various characteristics, such as advanced information processing utilizing big data and ai. additionally, fintech is characterized by an “ openness ” of networks, with the expansion of new media and instruments, including internet and smartphones, enabling ready access to financial services. this enhanced accessibility to financial services benefits customers and adds to their convenience. on the other hand, as financial networks become increasingly “ open, ” potential target points for cyber - attacks also tend to increase. therefore, how to simultaneously manage “ openness of financial networks ” and “ information security ” is a big challenge for fintech. financial services can be regarded as the processing of information for creating value in the linkages between economic entities over time and space. this is demonstrated in the payments and financial intermediation that connect various entities, such as senders / receivers and lenders / borrowers. in this sense, such activities must always be supported by people's “ trust. ” since fintech is illustrated as a technologically advanced form of financial services, the importance of trust also applies to fintech. for the development of fintech, it is imperative to firmly maintain people's trust in financial services while facilitating the creativity and innovation needed to meet the needs of people. if information security problems were to repeatedly occur in a part of fintech services, public trust toward fintech in general would be eroded even though such problems are caused by a limited number of entities. people ’ s anxiety for new services would hinder the sound development of fintech overall. bis central bankers ’ speeches the information technology behind fintech, if properly applied, should and can also contribute to enhancing information security and the safety of financial transactions. for example, seal stamps and pins, which are traditional measures for verification in financial transactions, are accompanied by certain risks, such as theft and identity theft. in this regard, biometric authentication utilizing new technology may contribute to reducing these risks and strengthening the security in financial transactions. thus, it is critical for relevant parties to make utmost efforts to use technological innovation for enhancing security in financial transactions. fintech will thrive and grow when users associate it not only with convenience but also with safety and trust. iv. initiatives at the bank of japan fintech has various implications for central banking.

and employment. we still have to make a huge effort and try to reconcile stability with growth, employment and equity. much progress has been made in this discussion and that is what we want to foster from the central bank. it may sound anecdotal, but i consider it relevant to mention that last week we at the central bank made the decision to change our monetary program. when making this decision, we were faithful to this view of economic problems : monetary variables cannot be independent of the real economy. monetary affairs have to be consistent with a vigorously growing country that gradually distributes the fruits borne. this is one of the challenges : leaving behind those watertight compartments where monetary affairs are detached from the real economy. perhaps conventional thinking, the monetarist system, is so embedded in argentina that it makes it difficult to deal with the stability issues related to the challenges of a still developing country which has a long way to go as regards growth, income distribution, job recovery and upward wage correction. that was what we did : we adjusted the monetary program so as not to sterilize growth and for it to be consistent with these objective data of the argentine economy. we aspire to break those watertight compartments and put the central bank of argentina back at the core of macroeconomic coordination. the aim is to be in line with what has been done by successfully developed countries. we must work very hard to identify what these countries have done and keep doing to promote their development and protect their own interests rather that what they say they have done. in this sense, it is by no means a small detail that this is the first time a president of argentina has joined us in this money conference. for that reason, i would like to thank mrs. president for honoring us with her presence today in a conference where we intend to have a discussion without conceptual categorizations, with a high degree of pragmatism and, most importantly, with the intellectual honesty needed to raise these issues. i am confident that throughout this conference there will be very good ideas shedding light on the path we have walked in argentina in recent years which engages us all in strengthening development and equity. thank you very much.