, and is now a national strategic priority. women's micro bank's services successfully address several financial inclusion objectives : 1 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches providing deposit - taking and lending opportunities to people who would otherwise be unbanked promoting financial literacy and business development skills by supporting training encouraging people in the informal sector, such as market vendors, to graduate into the formal economy, through access to banking services, financial assistance and capacity building supporting the msme and sme sectors helping grow the agriculture sector value chain, particularly for coffee, vanilla, cocoa and copra businesses. from bpng's point of view, each of these activities makes a significant contribution to achieving the broader objective of building sustainable economic growth. i also acknowledge women's micro bank's willingness to collaborate with other organisations, including government agencies, and national and international development partners, to achieve meaningful and valuable results. these practices reflect a clear recognition by the leadership of mama bank that operating a successful enterprise in our modern world requires partnering, cooperation and effective communication. as the regulator of the png financial system, the bank of papua new guinea welcomes this attitude in participants in the financial services sector. i mentioned mama bank's reputation as an innovator. this is of particular interest to me. as some of you may know, in my previous role as assistant governor, one of my key responsibilities was to create a favourable environment in which financial technology, fintech, could be developed to help bring basic financial services to all png citizens. one of the successful initiatives bpng has implemented is the regulatory sandbox. this is a system where products are put through rigorous testing to make sure they will work in the real world and will comply with the applicable rules and regulations, without the cost and risks associated with launching a new product to the marketplace. the sandbox's first graduate, a digital id product that provides certainty of identification without the need for mains power or internet access, has now been adopted by mama bank and implemented as an id card, in partnership with the fintech developer digizen. the digital id innovation is not the first time mama bank has led the way with fintech to reach customers. i note that women's micro bank introduced biometrics back in 2018 to enable its customer enrolment process, the first of its kind in png. with this strong tradition of bringing simple and effective financial services to the unbanked, it is obvious that women's

tobin said that we know little about predicting inflation. that remains true today. in a world prone to supply disruptions and susceptible to political uncertainties, monetary policy can only try to buffer the effects of external shocks on the real economy and on inflation. the past two years have seen an escalation of violence, with russia's unjustified war against ukraine and the unfolding of the middle east crisis last autumn. 2024 is a year of increased electoral activity. there are five months to go to us elections, the outcome of which could alter the course of the global economy. nationalist parties made major gains across the euro area in the european parliament elections, challenging leaders in germany but also france, where snap elections have been called. monetary policy has navigated in the turbulent waters of heightened uncertainty in the past several years. it will continue to navigate in those turbulent waters in the period ahead. 4. climate change challenges at the ecb we have a very clear mandate, which is enshrined in the treaty and has a focus on price stability. we also have an important role to play in addressing the challenge of climate change, always within the limits of our mandate. physical and transition risks can threaten price stability, but also become a source of instability and vulnerability for the financial system, thereby also affecting the transmission of monetary policy. at the same time, in addition to the risks created by climate change, adapting to climate change can bring opportunities, as required investment will bring new, 4 / 7 bis - central bankers'speeches more efficient and more sustainable forms of development, towards a more resilient and green economy. the financing of these investments is also an opportunity for the financial system and the more efficient use of the savings of european citizens. at the ecb we have different sets of actions, from risk management to better macroeconomic modelling and to including climate change risks and mitigation measures in many aspects of our work. 5. policy challenges related to recent political developments monetary policy has a single anchor in price stability, and that anchor is immune to political influence. as an independent institution, the ecb will continue to conduct its monetary policy to attain its price stability objective. the ecb has earned its credibility by focusing on this objective, and not being diverted by political pressures. it will continue to be led by its mandate in the future. the economic agenda of some of political parties is disconcerting, because it includes such policies as increased protectionism and highly expansionary fiscal