stability and the efficiency of the financial system. it will enhance legal certainty, particularly with regard to the application of the regulatory framework to innovative proposals. meanwhile, the regulatory sandbox will enable the bank of greece to deepen its knowledge of financial innovation and, where appropriate, fine - tune its regulatory and supervisory approach accordingly. this major project would not have been feasible without funding from the european union, support from the european commission and the ebrd, as well as the technical support received from ernst & young. we owe you a big ‘ thank you ’ for supporting our vision, and it was a great pleasure to have you with us today. again, i wish to thank the bank of greece staff for their hard work in achieving today ’ s milestone and for the support that they will continue to provide now that the regulatory sandbox has become operational. the bank of greece closely monitors developments in the area of innovation in europe and the rest of the world, and will continue to do so in future. the regulatory sandbox was set up drawing on the operational features of similar schemes in other countries, including lithuania, whose central bank we had the privilege of hosting on today ’ s panel. at the same time, the bank of greece is actively involved in european initiatives monitoring advances in financial innovation and reviewing relevant regulatory and supervisory developments. however, the work of the bank of greece in the area of innovation does not end here. as pointed out earlier, in the initial phase the regulatory sandbox will be intended for use only by authorised firms and for services authorised by the bank of greece. further down the road, our goal is to expand the scope of the regulatory sandbox to enable non - authorised financial firms to test their innovative solutions. a future version of the regulatory sandbox could be expanded to institutions established in another eu member state and operating branches in greece, in cooperation with the supervisory authority of the home member state. furthermore, the current version of the regulatory sandbox relies on customised guidance and active dialogue as its primary tools. a future version of the regulatory sandbox could also benefit from other, more drastic tools, for instance the lifting of particular requirements, where permitted by law, or the granting of an authorisation under restrictions. in conclusion, as of today, the bank of greece will be accepting applications from fintech firms for participation in the regulatory sandbox. we look forward to receiving the innovative ideas to be tested under our close guidance and support before they are put on the market. once

2. the greek economy on a growth track the greek economy is currently on a growth track. this was made possible thanks to the completion of the second review and its positive effect mainly on confidence and liquidity. the fact that the economy ’ s growth dynamics has gained traction is primarily reflected in the positive path of gdp as well as in the improvement of short - term indicators : real gdp grew y - o - y by 0. 4 % in the first quarter and by 0. 8 % in the second quarter of 2017. overall, in the first half of 2017 real gdp increased by 0. 6 %, year - on - year. real gdp growth in the second quarter was mainly driven by an increase of 9. 5 % y - o - y in exports of goods and services, as well as by a rise in public ( 3. 3 % ) and private consumption ( 0. 7 % ), whereas gross fixed capital formation had a negative contribution, largely on account of delays in public investment programme disbursements. industrial production increased y - o - y by 1. 7 % in july 2017 for the tenth consecutive month. overall, between january and july 2017 industrial production increased by 5. 3 % relative to 1 / 6 bis central bankers'speeches the corresponding period of 2016. the volume of retail sales in the first half of 2017 rose by 2. 4 %, year - on - year. the positive momentum of the economy is also mirrored in the labour market, which has been showing signs of improvement since mid - 2014, on the back of structural reforms which allowed for a shift towards more flexible forms of employment. in more detail, employment rose y - o - y by 2. 4 % in the second quarter of the year, while the unemployment rate stood at 21. 2 % in june 2017, down from 23. 5 % one year earlier. the improved economic outlook and the completion of the second review contributed to a decline in greek government bond yields to their end - 2009 levels, thereby facilitating greece ’ s return to international markets on 25 july. at the same time, the yields of corporate bonds issued by the non - financial sector declined considerably as well. furthermore, fitch upgraded greece ’ s credit rating, citing sustained recovery and reduced political risk. other key developments that should be pointed out are : the successive reductions in the emergency liquidity assistance ( ela ) ceiling for greek banks, the increase in deposits, the attainment of the operational targets set so far for banks