these efforts remain fragmented and lack of focus on advocating greater appreciation and understanding about the value of protection. households and businesses remain unaware and uninformed in making decisions relating to financial protection. recognising this persistent challenge, the bank and the securities commission recently spearheaded the establishment of the financial education network and the launch of the national strategy for financial literacy to increase the impact of financial education initiatives and to elevate financial literacy among malaysians. efforts to improve financial literacy will also require industry associations to drive the development of best practices for industry - wide adoption. in this regard, the malaysian takaful association should be consistently proactive and agile in responding to emerging opportunities and resolving impeding industry issues. takaful industry as a game - changer in empowering financial resilience as malaysia advances towards the shared prosperity vision, it is crucial to ensure balanced and inclusive growth. the takaful industry has a critical role in enhancing the socio - economic wellbeing of malaysians. this vision cannot be achieved without addressing the specific needs of the lower income group. according to a study by khazanah research institute, people in the lower income category now have lesser residual income. the cost of living burden is the heaviest for lower income households, who spend 94. 8 % of their income on basic expenditure. not much is left for savings or for financial protection in the event of misfortune. overcoming the issue of affordability requires long - term and broader measures to grow people ’ s income. in the interim, we can think of social finance as a vehicle to bridge this gap. the integration of social finance instrument in takaful solutions in a more structured and scalable manner can have transformative impact in making financial protection more affordable for society. waqf, sadaqah and zakat are examples of social finance instruments which can be embedded in the design structure of takaful products. mainstreaming the integration of social finance can unlock commercially viable financial protection to be extended to those who are most vulnerable in our society. this is definitely a unique value - added feature that can drive innovation in the area of inclusive protection. in designing solutions to cater for the lower income segment, the takaful industry can capitalise and leverage on the principles of perlindungan tenang initiative, which promote protection solutions that are affordable, accessible, easy to understand, easy to buy and claim, as well as offering good protection value. admittedly, the uptake by the industry

italian banking association annual meeting speech by the governor of the bank of italy ignazio visco milan, 12 july 2019 the economic situation and outlook the world economy is struggling to regain momentum. according to the main international institutions, gdp growth this year will be at its lowest since the contraction of 2009. in the economic bulletin that will be published this afternoon, the pace of international trade growth is estimated to be 1. 5 per cent, more than two and a half points lower than in 2018. downside risks linked to protracted trade tensions, the slowdown in the chinese economy, and the unknowns surrounding the timeframe and arrangements for the united kingdom ’ s exit from the european union, are weighing on the economic outlook. growth remains weak in the euro area. the uncertainty regarding the world economy is having a negative effect on exports, manufacturing production, and firms and households ’ expectations. according to the projections made in june by the eurosystem, gdp is expected to increase by 1. 2 per cent in 2019, while the forecast for 2020 has been lowered to 1. 4 per cent. the growth in prices remains modest and financial markets ’ inflation expectations are particularly low. at the beginning of june, the ecb governing council confirmed its strongly expansionary monetary policy stance. if there is no improvement in the macroeconomic outlook, further measures will be needed. over the next few weeks, the council will continue to consider how to recalibrate the tools at its disposal. despite the slight improvement in the first quarter of this year, economic activity is stagnating in italy, owing above all to the slackness of the industrial cycle. according to our surveys, firms expect a slowdown in demand over the coming months and very modest growth in investment over the year as a whole. the central projection included in the bulletin puts gdp at 0. 1 per cent in 2019 and at just under 1. 0 per cent on average for the following two years. these estimates are subject to risks connected with both international developments and domestic demand. the confidence of households and firms could be affected by the uncertainties surrounding the budget, which have been dispelled for this year but not for the next. at a time of a generalized reduction in risk premiums, reflecting expectations of greater monetary accommodation in the euro area, tensions on the italian government securities market have abated. thanks to the european commission ’ s decision not to recommend the launch of an excessive deficit procedure, following the reduction in expected net borrowing